Entanglement
by the.silly.banana.muffin
Summary: Just a series of cute little one-shots pertaining to the adorable Rapunzel and Eugene. Rating may change later on; for now we'll keep it at T to be safe.
1. Pulsate

HI. C: So I've watched "Tangled" for the 343, 673, 908th time and I loved every bit of it-again-so I felt the need to do some "Tangled" work. XD This is probably just going to be a bunch of one-shots thrown together in no particular order, but if you've got an idea I'm more than willing to hear it. c: I chose the verse at the very end just because it's one of my favorites, and I found it relevant to the subject matter. R&R-please? 3

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Rapunzel's small frame heaved and shifted with each shaking breath she allowed herself to let in; her hands were equally as unstable and a chilled sweat fell from her temple as she stared into a gray sky, where nothing of great importance to her remained.<p>

_Nothing. _

Her life was on the ground, a hundred feet below. Almost eighteen years of it. The sun no longer shined on lush grass—instead, sterling, crying clouds poured down upon wet ashes of a "mother" once beloved by her in her childhood. Her childhood had fallen along with the dark, heavy hood that laid sprawled upon the dirt below.

But she was numb—she wanted to cry, but no tears strayed from her emerald eyes. She wanted to scream, but there were no ears to listen to her shrieks for answers that she wished for so badly.

_No…no, Rapunzel._

Rapunzel lifted a lock of chocolate hair into her petite hands; she frowned and her mouth fell agape slightly in amazement that yet another seventy feet of her life rested in her grasp. This hair _was _her life; she spent her days in a tower, being told that the world outside was cruel and unforgiving. Her hair was a treasure to many—it needed protecting and was worth more than a thousand pounds of gold, silver and platinum. This hair had been the key to life and health itself; the world could finally cheat death itself. Given the right spell; the average peddler could instantly become the world's renowned life merchant. And _that _was what was gone now.

And Rapunzel knewthat, in her heart, she was supposed to despise every bit of this tower, and every bit of the ashes piled within that cloak with every ounce of power and strength within her body. But she didn't—_couldn't_—not right at this moment.

_Ngh. Rap…un—_

And right at this moment, she couldn't give a single care about what was happening on the ground below her.

Rapunzel twisted back to find the heap of a limp form lying, splayed out across cold tile. She scrambled to her feet and fell once more upon her skirt, where a crimson stain set itself in like a memory into the innocent, pink satin of her slip. "Eugene, _Eugene_."

Upon rolling him onto his back, the thief's face was no longer its handsome bronze color and was now replaced with a thick, white veil of hastily-approaching demise. She lifted him into her arms quicker than her own mind could fully comprehend; her hands rose to his face where she brushed damp, feverish shafts of brown hair from his face. "Don't do this to me, Eugene. Please, wake up—please—stay with me, just a bit longer…"

Her eyes darted from one corner of the sinister room to the other, searching for one last strand of shining blonde to save him—that was all she needed. She could live out her life without seeing him another day; it would be more tough but she had already made the promise to Mother Gothel once—she could surely do it again if it meant saving the man that she loved more than she loved herself. If he wanted to, he could up and leave and she would be completely content with that idea, knowing that she had given him the chance to live out the rest of his days as a thief—as a prince. However he wanted to spend them…with or without her.

But there was no such magical blonde strand of hair in sight. Nothing but brown for as far as she could see, _nothing. _Hot tears began to obscure her vision and within a few seconds, she was struggling to breathe between gasps and pleas to keep a pair of fading, dull hazel eyes from closing.

"_Eugene, _no—no, no," She lifted his chained hand to her newly-found brunette hair and pressed it firmly against her scalp; trembling and quivering as she struggled to form verses and stanzas to her very own, essential incantation. "Flower gleam and glow; let your power shine—make the clock reverse,"

"Rapunzel."

"…Bring back—"

"_Rapunzel._" The hand's fingers twitched slightly, digging themselves further into her hair for a moment before they gave in and allowed themselves to slide mid-shoulder upon her pink satin sleeve.

"…What once was mine."

"Rapun-_zel ."_

Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut; she shook her head in disbelief and her stinging eyes fell upon Eugene. "...What?"

He flashed his set of white teeth for a moment, and for a moment—just a moment—everything seemed alright. But it faded and he winced; the gurgling of blood building within his chest surfaced and nothing was okay anymore. But he maintained a smile, however weak it was and he wore it with every remaining bit of strength in his body. "You…were my new dream…"

And Rapunzel laughed. She didn't want to; it certainly wasn't appropriate for what was unfolding. But she grinned, with tears beginning to trickle from her sage eyes. She dug her fingernails into his knuckles and leaned closer, with her head giving him an affirmative nod and she giggled softly with her voice lifting nothing above a whisper. "And you were mine."

Eugene gave her one last smile, with his eyes finally losing their remaining luster and energy. And Rapunzel hated herself; she hated every bit of herself for not being who she used to be. She could feel his hand becoming more of a dead weight than an appendage, and his once-labored breathing fell to a shallow huff, until the air fell stagnant and there was absolutely nothing gently swaying the chops at the base of her head. She shook her head slowly, gently tugging on his hand until she watched as his eyes finally close and he was still in her arms.

She swallowed and with trembling hands, lightly ran them against his softly-stubbled skin. He was still so warm…she wouldn't let him go—_couldn't _let him go. Pressing her face into the crook of his neck, she choked on a sob and held him tighter until her knuckles turned a pale shade of white and the veins in her arms began to throb with constriction.

…She saw the lanterns.

He gave her the lanterns.

She _knew _that he crashed into her tower for a reason. The only thing that she thought that she would have ever really wanted ended up giving her more than just ten thousand lights in the sky. It gave her a reason to love the grass, the rain, the clouds—a reason to really _desire _freedom for the first time in her life.

And it was taken away from her, just like that.

She now, truly hated this tower; that woman that she called a mother. She hated it all.

She hated the world; she hated the birds chirping outside of that window. She hated the sun; she hated the real home that she never had. She hated her once-healing hair. She hated those lanterns, too—and her heart.

"...Heal what has been hurt," Rapunzel closed her eyes and whispered against his skin. "Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost," She sighed softly and allowed her tears to flow; her cries were stuck within her throat and ceased to come forth. "Bring back what once was mine…"

She slumped over her knees. "What once was mine." She buried her face into his teal vest and cried softly.

_You were my new dream._

Her delicate hands slid to his hand, where the silver shard of glass that sliced her magical hair laid. Her fingers danced around the jagged, broken edges and she closed her eyes, cringing at the metallic scent of blood.

_I hate you so much._

She hated Eugene, too. How could he be so selfish—to leave her, just like that? He could have let her heal him, but he was too stubborn to listen. After all, why would he listen to _her_? He did what he wanted, and he was dead now because he was a selfish thief, and wanted nothing but what he believed he should deserve.

So he thought that he must have deserved to die before her.

Rapunzel could feel her stomach dropping further and further into her abdomen; she felt as if she were going to be sick soon.

_I deserved to die. He hadn't done anything wrong._

She stifled another cry in her shoulder and shook her head in doubt-she must have looked as if she were going crazy.

…_Just given me the best memories of my life. He wasn't bothering anybody._

Her arm came across her face to wipe away the remaining stray tears from her red, weary eyes and she leaned closer to Eugene, making sure to carefully take in every bit of detail about him—enough to last her a lifetime. She ran a hand over his cheek, frowning upon noticing that the warmth that life had once brought him was slowly beginning to fade away. But she continued; her hands stopping when they reached an area of unusual warmth radiating from the uppermost right half of his lips.

And from that—

A single ray of golden sunlight, the color of her former locks, radiated forth from that one area. And then another, and another. The rays shone as brightly as the sun; as brightly as Rapunzel's magic itself and it was soon dancing across the floors, walls, and ceiling. Her mural's lantern's seemed to light up themselves, and soon the entire bedroom glittered and gleamed with yellow and white rays of light that made Corona's lanterns seem minute in comparison. Rapunzel drew her hand back as the rays began to twirl and caper between her fingers. They were warm—hot, really, and they surrounded her and Eugene from all four sides; the light was blinding. She watched from half-lidded eyes as the fascinating strands rushed to the wound within Eugene's side in an instant and conjoined as if forming an impenetrable lock with one another, and soon began to melt into one undistinguished mass of light that sparkled like the stars above.

Rapunzel watched in amazement as the tendrils of light engulfed the two of them, shrouding them in a thick layer until it finally began to subside at once. The dazzling lights drew back and unwound, and soon the painting's lanterns began to lose their lust. She lifted her head to the ceiling above, where the last remaining yellow tendrils faded and drifted off into the stagnant air of her musty prison.

Rapunzel turned back to the fallen man and cautiously removed her hand from his wounded side, where nothing—not even blood, left its mark. She sat still for several minutes, until she felt a slight stir in her arms.

In a few, agonizingly-long couple of moments, Eugene slowly opened his eyes to greet her wide, bright pair.

"Eugene…?" Her heart fluttered within her chest; she kept her breath withheld.

He gave her a faint, crooked smile and he chuckled softly. "Did I ever tell you…that I have a thing for brunettes?"

Rapunzel inadvertently grinned and finally let the air spill from her chest. She lurched forward and threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace; her strength cracking joints in his neck. "_Eugene_!"

She held him as tightly as she could; she wasn't going to have to live a single day without the thief that she came to love so dearly. Drawing back from his tight hold, she maintained her grin and finally placed the kiss on his lips that was supposed to belong with the lanterns.

Eugene brushed the new, choppy locks from her face. "…Let's get you home," He slowly pulled himself to his feet.

Rapunzel turned to the window and looked out to the setting sun. An arm extended to draw her closer, and she laughed.

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

_1 Corinthians, 15:26_


	2. The Cold, Hard Truth

Heya! So I'm appreciating the kind, amazing reviews that you readers gave me on the last chapter-keep them coming! c: This chapter's a little more humorous; I was given the idea by **Tyedyesillybandz** (so if you're reading this, I hope that I didn't let you down! :D). This one was a little harder because it's hard to keep everyone in character, but I tried my hardest. Like I said before, if you have ideas you can either review or PM me and let me know-that'd really help me out. c:

Enjoy!

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><p>Throbbing, aching feet hastily kicked off pink, pointed-toe heeled shoes and dipped into the cool lake water; a sigh of relief escaped their keeper's lips in doing so.<p>

Beautiful, royal dresses were nice—but their corsets were sometimes too tight.

Fancy, jewel-encrusted shoes were glamorous—but they began to hurt her toes after a while.

And the title of "princess" was something that she could have only dreamed of—but here she was, sleeping under the bed sheets of the long-lost princess, _as _the long-lost princess herself.

Rapunzel was truly living a fairytale; her _own_ fairytale. She found the most wonderful parents that she could have ever asked for, and she had found her true love. He was certainly no prince from an exotic country far, far away—but he was her vision of anything and everything that she could have hoped and dreamed of. And she was destined to rule the most beautiful kingdom she believed ever existed; there was nothing more that she could ask for.

…But it was also nice to escape from the lavish life that she had just begun to live. It was all so much to take in at once, she was thrown into a completely different world in a matter of a few days. She went from being a commoner to a royal princess; everything that she had once known had been almost completely overwritten with tutoring and etiquette lessons.

And it was all lovely and fine in there, but it felt even better out here, in the wind and water. There was no chattering of noble dukes and ladies, and there wasn't the sound of fine dinner platters clanging and bashing together in the kitchen. Her father wasn't lecturing his guards, and the sound of arrows hitting wood and faux armor was absent. It was just her and the stars now—and she preferred it that way.

"...Blondie?"

She turned at her former pseudonym and beamed as she was greeted by an even wider, toothy grin that seemed to glow like her once-golden hair in the navy blue of the night. She firmly patted the worn, wooden planks of the pier beside her, and the shadow took the seat without delay.

"I see you're skipping out on dinner again," the man flashed his bright teeth again.

"It would seem _Flynn Rider's _doing the same," She poked at him teasingly. "I guess it's just not dinner without us."

Eugene was already taking his new boots off and tossed them aside her heeled ones. His feet joined hers in the lake, and it all earned a laugh from the princess as he reached down and playfully splashed her with a handful of cold water. "Caviar's great and all, but I think that tonight I'm going to have to pass."

Rapunzel laughed and gave him a slight nod. "I've never eaten this well before. But I think that the palace needs a new menu—I'm getting tired of eating the same thing night after night."

Eugene slid closer to her, with his feet sloshing and bumping gently against hers. "Maybe I'll take you out one night and we'll get something different."

"The 'Snuggly Duckling'?" She flashed a smug smile.

He rolled his hazel eyes and shook his head. "Nicer. _A lot _nicer."

"Like..?"

He shrugged slightly and waved his hands in front of him for a moment, as if searching for the answer before him. "I don't know—I'll _make _something for you."

She lifted an eyebrow. "…Eugene Fitzherbert _cooks_?"

"I wouldn't say _that_—I mean—" The former thief was soon struggling with his words, and she could see him turning pink with embarrassment. "I can make _some _things. A thief has to know how to fend for himself sometimes, right?"

Rapunzel giggled. "You'll never have to make another meal for yourself again, now that you're living here," She shoved a thumb back to the castle.

His large hand drifted to meet hers on the damp wood, where the two sat for several minutes in the silence of the night. When Rapunzel finally opened her mouth to speak, nothing but a few, strained words came forth. She quickly closed her mouth and shook her head quickly, more to herself than to him.

Eugene looked to her.

She shook her head once more and dismissed her previous thoughts. "It's nothing."

"You might as well just say it," He chuckled softly. "If you've got a secret, who am I going to tell?"

"It's not a secret," She replied too quickly, and she was already mentally fumbling with her words. "I was just wondering."

"…About?"

"Well," Rapunzel started slowly. "I never met my real parents, until now of course—but I at least had Mother Gothel there to look after me—"

"…You're asking about my parents."

She bit her lip. "…I shouldn't have said anything."

"I told you, I grew up in an orphanage. I didn't _have _parents."

The princess fidgeted with the tips of her dark, brunette hair. "Did you _ever _get to hear about what they were like…?"

"I never said that I never knew them," Eugene's voice fell soft.

Rapunzel's green eyes seemed to glow a bit brighter in the dark. She gave him a small smile. "What were they like?"

Eugene thought for a long time, what felt like an eternity before he finally twisted back to face her. He carried a faint smile of his own, as if he were surmising old and faded memories. "…My mom was the best mom ever. And my dad was one of the nicest guys you'd ever met—I was told I got my _charming _looks from him," He laughed quietly.

She giggled. "I can see why your mom chose him, then."

He shrugged, still lightly laughing from his last confession. "I don't think that I could have asked for better parents, really. Remember when I told you about the 'Tales of Flynnagyn Rider'?" He grinned.

Rapunzel laughed. "Mhm."

"That was something that he used to read to me," He rubbed the back of his neck and paused, "but he probably thought that I would have been too young to remember any of that."

She looked down to their hands and gave him a small squeeze, encouraging him to go further.

_I'm still here._

"…How did they…?"

Eugene bit his lip and frowned slightly. His brow furrowed and his rust-colored eyes narrowed. She caught him blinking quickly several times, as if to stave off horrendous memories from touching the untainted and pristine ones. "…We needed to get more food. We had run out days earlier," He laughed, a bitter bite in his tone. "So we decided to go to the next kingdom over; there was a market and all there…" His voice trailed off.

Another gentle squeeze to his hand.

"And so we had to walk—we obviously weren't rich enough to get toted around in some carriage or on a horse, like you," He gave her another minute smile. "So, we were walking. And that wasn't too much to a big deal; we always got around that way with no problem. We always took the main roads, where there was a lesser chance of us getting jumped by thugs. But this one night, while we were staying at this inn in the middle of absolutely nowhere," He stopped once more. "…I started to get hungry. I hadn't eaten in at least a day and a half, and being the bratty age of five, I started to get angry. This inn didn't have anything to spare us, so my parents decided that we would travel overnight to get to the market by morning—before the big crowds. And so we were getting along just fine and my dad started telling me another part of Flynnagyn's adventures—when these three guys jumped out from a few trees nearby."

"…And they took all of your things," She added inquisitively.

He gave her a faint nod. "They threatened my parents—told them that if they didn't hand over anything, they'd kill me. So my parents did as they were told and handed over all of their money, but the largest one grabbed my mom and he put a knife to her throat anyways. My dad, being just as brave as I am," He rolled his eyes, "tried to come after her, but he ended up—" He abruptly stopped, and his eyes shot a sharp glance to his side. "…And I couldn't do anything about it—one was holding me back and the other was already going off and carting my dad into the woods. So that left me and my mom. And when one of them told her that it was going to either be me or her that lived, she begged them to let me go," His eyes glittered with the beginnings of furious tears, but he kept on with his anecdote. "…So I guess they chose me."

Rapunzel felt a droplet of water slid from her cheek, and she was shocked with the realization that it was one of her own. She turned back to Eugene, who now sat silently with his feet gliding across the water as if he were a curious child once more. She took her delicate hand from his and turned his face to hers, where she saw his own, anguished share of tears trickling from his eyes. Rapunzel perched herself closer to his form and she rested her head against his chest when his arms came around to envelope her fully.

"Why couldn't it have been me, Rapunzel…?" His voice cracked, but he had yet to give in completely.

She hardly smiled into his midnight-colored vest and let her hands come to rest against his shoulders. "I think your mom knew that you were going to grow up to do incredible things."

His breath hitched in his chest and she was aware instantly; she drew back slightly to view his facial features.

"I grew up to become the very thing that _killed _my parents-I don't think that I've done right to them given that," His tone fell low and his frown only deepened.

Rapunzel bit the inside of her cheek and turned away from him for a moment. Her own voice fell soft and she completely let her new-found, "princess" guard down, where several more tears fell from her emerald eyes. "…You met me."

His head turned her way. And although restrained, he smiled and took her hands in his once more. "That's one of the better things that's happened to me—the best, actually."

Her face flushed, and she returned the smile graciously. Their bodies sat closer, and their silhouette looked as one in the increasing black.

"I guess that I've got a lot that I should be thankful for, really. I guess that if weren't for you, I wouldn't have fallen in love."

Hearing him say that still sent chills down her spine; she loved hearing him say it. "…You know, you stealing my crown was the best thing to happen to me," She smirked.

Eugene gave her a crooked grin. "…I have an idea."

She blinked questioningly.

"We've been talking too serious this entire time," He laughed. "Let's lighten the mood a little, shall we?"

Rapunzel folded her thin arms across her chest. "…What do you have in mind?"

"A game," He started, "called 'Truth or Dare'."

"Truth…or dare?"

His mouth fell slightly agape, and he was speechless. "…You've _never _played it?"

Rapunzel twisted her mouth and she pressed her ear into her sleeve. "Who was I supposed to play it with?"

Eugene, taking into consideration her previous lifestyle, pulled his feet from the water and rotated to face her fully. "Then I guess you're going to get stuck playing it with me tonight."

She beamed. "How do you play?"

"Well, I'm going to ask you if you want a 'truth' or a 'dare'. And if you choose 'truth', then I ask you something—typically stupid, pointless, and embarrassing—and you have to answer it honestly. If you decide that you want a 'dare', then I'm supposed to choose something stupid, pointless, and embarrassing _to do_. And you'll have to do it—no matter what." He seemed to take ornate pleasure in that last portion.

Rapunzel lifted an eyebrow and clicked her tongue. "…Anything 'stupid, pointless, and embarrassing', huh?"

Eugene shook his head slowly in affirmation. "_Anything, _princess. I'll even let you go first."

She sat, silent for a long while with her head in her arms before she turned back to him. "Fine. 'Truth', or 'dare', Eugene Fitzherbert?"

"Truth."

Her devilish smirk grew. "Are you _sure_?"

He nodded. "Throw it at me."

"…Did you love me when you first saw me?"

"_Of course_," Eugene pulled a half-smolder and laughed. "I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't, Blondie."

"Well, you _did _think I was sort of annoying at the beginning of that trip," She flicked the side of his face, earning a demure wince.

"I never said that!"

"It was implied," She held her head upside down and stared at him. " 'The only thing that I want with your hair is to get out of it—literally."

Eugene clasped his calloused hands and rubbed them together. "I guess I kinda let the Flynn part of me get ahold of a little too much of me," he grinned.

"I suppose that because you admitted that, you _were _being honest," Rapunzel sat upright once more and prodded him with a slender finger to his ribs. "It's your turn."

"'Truth', or 'dare'?"

"'Truth'."

"Where _did _you hide my satchel? After you knocked me out cold with your frying pan for the _third_ time, of course," He reciprocated the same smirk back to her.

She ran her fingers through her short, chocolate locks. "Under the planks in the stairs. I was bluffing when I said that you'd never be able to find it."

"_Obviously_—Princess Rapunzel can never tell a lie," He chortled.

Rapunzel waved a swift hand in front of him, where he caught a hold of it and placed his lips to it. "Do you want a 'dare', or do you want a 'truth'?" The heat was beginning to creep back onto her face.

Eugene slowly released her hand and straightened. "I guess I can handle a 'dare'."

"Hmm…" She placed a hand to her face and bit down onto the tips of her manicured nails, and her eyes remained fixated upon his. "You said that I could do anything I wanted to, right?"

He nodded.

Before he could even acutely comprehend everything, he felt his head go over his knees and then his hand slid out from hers—or maybe she had let go—and he hit the water. He slid beneath the chilly depths for mere seconds, but seconds was all it took for his entire frame to become soaked in the chilled water and he quickly shot to the surface, where Rapunzel's laughs could clearly be heard. He quickly grabbed the edge of the dock and gasped for air as the cold continued to knock the air from his lungs, and his gaze shot up at her with wide eyes. "Why would you _do _something like _that_?"

"You _said _that I could do anything I wanted to, no matter how pointless or stupid it seemed, right? I was going to dare you to get into that water, but I knew you wouldn't do it—not even for me,"She beamed.

Eugene rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated, heavy sigh. After floating in the water for several minutes, he lifted his head back to face the princess. " 'Truth', or 'dare'?"

" 'Dare'," She laid down on the pier, eye level with him and gave him a smug, pleased smile.

He ran a hand across his face and brushed the wet, dark shafts of hair from his face. "Take off that crown."

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow and slowly reached for the top of her head, pulling the crown from it before carefully placing it beside her onto the creaking pier. "…That wasn't so—"

Two strong arms lunged forward and grabbed her tiny wrists, leaving her helpless against their forceful grip as they instantly dragged her forth across the edge of the warmer pier and into the piercing, frigid water where she instinctively let out a shriek. She bound herself for the top and blindly searched for something—particularly someone—to cling to as she pulled herself to the surface. Her frantic, wandering hand met a larger, rougher one and she allowed it to grab ahold and lift her to the top of the water where she was immediately pulled to their warm side. Her arms clung to his waist.

"…_Eugene!"_

He laughed, and it echoed into the calm. "When I told you that you could ask or do anything, no matter how stupid it seemed—that applied to me, too," He caught his breath for a moment and slowly released it in a huff, with the hair before him condensing into a thin, white puff. When he met her furious gaze, he did nothing but laugh harder.

She hit his arm with a tense fist and outstretched the other to grab ahold of the dock. "You're too mean."

"Say what you want," He raised an eyebrow and smirked, "but I think that you sort of _liked _that."

"What's there to _like _about this? The water's _freezing_, Eugene!" She was beginning to shiver beside him; his arm drew her even closer.

"You'll get used to it—don't worry," He grinned.

She started to quiver beneath his arm and she finally let go of the pier to completely embrace him. "…My maid's going to be furious—she's going to have to have me hanged for getting this dress wet," Rapunzel lifted the hem of her purple dress to him.

"We'll go together, then," He squeezed the water from his sleeve and chuckled, his voice quivered slightly with the cold. "Your dad's not gonna be too happy with us."

"He'll understand," She giggled.

Eugene swept another set of brunette locks from his face. "So… 'truth', or 'dare'?"

Rapunzel's mouth fell slightly agape before she looked up to the sky and heaved a sigh. "…'Truth'."

His mouth twisted to the side, and he gave her a sly smile before he rapped his knuckles against the pier. "Do you want to give me a kiss?"

Her face fell. "Not right now—I'm freezing my rear end off," She quickly shook her head and tried to escape from his hold.

Eugene's smile grew to an ear-to-ear grin and he unexpectedly let go of the dock. "I guess that's too bad," He released her waist and dipped completely beneath the water.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel's hands searched for some attribute of him in the black water. "Where'd—"

She gasped as a set of cold hands grabbed her bare ankles and yanked her down, where the water quickly rushed above her head and she struggled against their hold. She let out a shrill screech as Eugene finally let her go and instead took her by the shoulders, holding her in a fixed position until his lips pressed firmly against hers and she was no longer straining to elude him.

Rapunzel gave in and wrapped her arms around his neck, when he ultimately pulled them both to the top and lifted her from the water and back, above him to her former perch. The princess placed her crown upon her head once more and took his wrists, where she helped him out. His dripping arm extended and came back to its previous position on her midsection and she rested her head upon his shoulder.

Eugene allowed his own head to fall upon hers and he chuckled. "…The servants might kill us, but I think that it was well worth it."

Rapunzel sighed and gently hit him.

…_Who knew kids games could be so much fun?_


	3. Fervor

Hey! It felt good to get this idea out on paper so to speak-I really liked the idea and I had honestly never really thought about it until one of you guys brought it up. xD This chapter's dedicated to **Flynnriderfanatic**; it was a little hard to put it all together effectively, but I hope that I didn't disappoint! I've gotten many awesome and amazing reviews from you guys, and I want you to know that I could have honestly, probably never have gotten this far without your helpful insight. :D You all have given me plenty of ideas and I _**promise **_that I'm going to get to each and every one of them! As always, I appreciate your feedback and I'd still like to hear your ideas-I could never have too many. C:

Bon appetit!

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><p>Rapunzel groaned softly and rolled onto her belly; she buried her face into her thick, freshly-cleaned pillows.<p>

The princess missed her humble downy mattress.

As wrong as it all seemed, she wished once more for the slightly dusted rolled pillows that sat upon her bed. She missed the uneven floorboards beneath her feet each morning—as if her maids actually let her dainty feet _touch _the ground—and she yearned again for her quaint, cracked and worn dresser. It was a bit of an adolescent dream, but she wanted her former room.

So much so, that she had stayed up on numerous nights with the sound of unfamiliar settling and hushed, noble voices talking politics at night. And although she had certainly grown more accustomed to the new and anomalous intonations, there was nothing more soothing than the hushed roaring of waterfalls and nocturnal animals scuttling on the thick grass beneath her.

And tonight was just another one of those nights.

Rapunzel turned to the thick, papyrus-scrawled calendar hanging at her bedside on the left wall.

_Seven months. Today._

It had been seven months to this day that the kingdom of Corona had their lost princess returned to them. It was the fourteenth of July, at about maybe eleven in the morning. There was going to be nobody to remind her; her maids treated every fourteenth as if it were any other day, and her parents as well. It was nice; she loved celebrations but humility was her policy above it all. Having four million eyes upon her at once was overwhelming; she would gladly take her daily etiquette and language lessons over ballroom dancing and thick, hampering dresses that made her feel more like a marshmallow on one of the queen's favorite deserts than an article of precious clothing.

Rapunzel's sage eyes drifted to the distant, pale yellow ceiling before they closed upon a golden mural of the Corona sun; a smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she reread her own fairytale in her mind.

…But it wasn't enough to put her to sleep.

Silently, she slipped from between her satin sheets and walked to her large-paned windows. The entire wall was taken up with nearly nothing but transparent glass; the king and queen must not have known that she had grown tired of windows over the years. She slowly opened the doors leading to a balcony where she overlooked the entire kingdom; the scent of fresh air was welcoming and allowed her to fully and completely breathe without maid-servants running around, scrambling for her shoes or her crown. This was her home away from home—from the second she had stepped onto the lush grass beneath her tower, she knew that this was where she had belonged.

Rapunzel hummed a soft tune to herself as she climbed up onto the first tier of thick, concrete rails holding the balcony's gating together. The melody dropped after several minutes as she smiled bitter- sweetly of the familiar notes; the healing incantation no longer created long, flowing and glowing hair but instead just a song to fill in the gaps of silence. She slowed it until it eventually trailed off and she was once again left in the quiet.

Maybe she could roam the palace for a bit—she was sure that getting lost for the umpteenth time would wear her out. But her maids would surely murder her; the idea of letting her go anywhere without protection was such a foreign thought that it was practically a sin.

_Scratch that._

The princess rested her head upon her hands and she leaned forward.

She might be able to sneak out and try to find her way to Eugene's room—but again, she knew that she would soon find herself lost among the countless doors and halls. She was nearly positive that a guard was going to come across her; she'd end up losing the little freedoms she did have in an instant. She turned on her bare heels and walked back to her chambers, where she quietly closed the door behind her and reached beneath her bed.

…But her parents would understand if she just got out of her room for a bit, just this _one _night…

Her petite hand retrieved a dark, cast-iron and round object and at the sight of it, she smiled. "…I missed you, frying pan."

Besides, she'd be carrying her own protection. She would never boast or fully admit to it, but her pan-handling skills were nearly unmatched by even the sturdiest soldier in the royal guard. Nobody was going to dare to scold her for being so hasty and foolish to go out on her own, now.

Rapunzel opened her chamber's grand doors and cautiously peered left and right, checking for the first glinting, gold sun that could only belong to a breastplate or a crown. She slowly tip-toed forth and shut the doors behind her, cringing as she silently prayed that they would leave no sound behind them. Once the final, minute _click _of the door's lock rang, she silently gave thanks and continued down the north end of the hall. Her dainty toes padded noiselessly against the rich, red carpeting and rugs as she rounded corners and snuck past even the strictest maid's sleeping quarters. She came close to running into several faux-guard, metal-uniformed displays and nearly let out a shriek of horror when she came across a relatively large, furry black spider skittering across the floor in front of her—but she kept her mouth closed behind clasps hands and carefully maneuvered around it, despite her fear of all things even slightly poisonous.

_Take a left into the Royal Court chambers so that you begin towards the dining hall, and then take a right to the hall of nobles. His room is the fifth door and final door on the left. _

That's how the queen described reaching Eugene's room, although it was easier said than done.

…Did she even pass the dining hall?

Wait—did she take a left? Her room is on the right of the hallway, right…?

Rapunzel let out a frustrated and heavy huff through her nose as she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

_I'm not going to be able to find my way back to my own room if I keep going like this._

She rose upright once more and turned her head from side to side, carefully searching for any clue as to where exactly she was. She suddenly turned her nose toward a certain scent—that of cupcakes and cooling crème Brule.

_Atilla._

He told her that his room was only three doors down from the kitchen and bakery; she was thankful in the king's decision to overlook the baker's past, semi-violent tendencies and allow him a job as the apprentice to the royal baker. He must have known that she was going to lose her way someday; he had given her unusually specific directions from several key locations in the palace months prior.

Rapunzel peeked behind the left corner, where she saw two guards keeping watch over the main entrance to the east wing. She quickly ducked back to the wall and softly padded back to the landscape windows found only in the middle of the hall.

_Definitely not that way._

She twisted back one last time to ensure that there were no guards following her before she slowly rounded the right corner. There were no guards, but instead a set of doors to each side of the hall where she knew that certain dukes and duchesses resided during their stays. Rapunzel took a moment to silently congratulate herself on getting all of the way here with nothing but her frying pan and her own wit. And some of Atilla's guidance, of course.

The princess squinted into the dark as she counted the doors on the right side—_left _side up to five. Her fingers just barely brushed the door handle before she stopped, cold in her tracks and frowned as she recalled the approximate time that she had left her bedroom to begin with.

_Eugene hates mornings—there's no way that he's be up this early._

It was hard enough pulling him out of bed the first week as it was; he could barely stand on his own two feet at seven in the morning—let alone three. Rapunzel let her hand fall against the brass handle and she stood there, contemplating for several minutes until she finally brought herself to quietly twist the handle. He never kept his room locked, something about him accidentally breaking the key the first day…

Rapunzel slid through the thin crack that she had created between the doors and found herself staring into a near pitch-black room.

_And I thought that I kept my room dark._

She continued forward with her arms held out before her, blindly searching and cautious as to not to bump anything over or against a heavy piece of furniture—being crushed by a royal armoire was not her ideal choice of death.

She counted the doors correctly, right?

Rapunzel sighed softly and treaded carefully onward, pleased with the fact that she had yet to completely run herself into something. She stopped short of a tall mirror and quickly turned to her left; if this room was set up similar to hers; the bed should be against the west wall…

…And it was.

She held her breath as she turned and set her frying pan onto the floor, propping it against the wall. She tip-toed across the room and to the bed, where nothing but a lump—which she could have perceived already to be a sleeping person—and a wad of blankets laid. Rapunzel knelt onto the ground and slowly extended a hand to the blankets shrouding the being completely; carefully peeling them away as if they were layers to an onion. Upon further inspection, she came to recognize the mess of dark hair buried into the white pillows and she smiled.

_I actually got the right room._

Eugene laid on his stomach with his right arm dangling from the side closest to her; she felt somewhat transfixed by the simple sight of him sleeping. Her hand traced the folds of the blanket to his hand and she gently laced her fingers between his, remaining in her place at his side.

Surely, she could stay here forever. She would be content with that, but it would only be a matter of time before his own servants would come to wake him—Rapunzel could only imagine the look of shock on their faces when they found her asleep or not on the floor at his side; let alone her maids' faces when they _didn't _find her in bed.

…It would probably be best if she just went back—she could wait until morning to see Eugene. He'd definitely be in a better mood than if she was to wake him now.

But as she stood and tried to undo their hands, his grip on hers only tightened and she froze, unsure as to how to go about making him release her without disturbing his rest. She bent down once more and gently tugged on his thumb, prying it from hers and his index finger followed suit. But his middle digit wouldn't budge—not even a little. Rapunzel bit her lip and slouched, considering her own defeat by her doing and sat back down against the frame of the bed.

"…You need to get better at sneaking around."

Rapunzel's brow furrowed as she craned her head up above the mattress. To her surprise, one hazel eye was staring back at her, a faint-smile tugging at the once-sleeping man. She glanced to their hands dumbly for a moment before she locked gazes with him. "…You're up?"

His eye closed and his voice was again muffled by the pillow. "I was up when I heard you walk in…figure I shouldn't bother wasting the energy getting up."

"Getting up?" The princess's mouth twisted to the side.

He chuckled softly and gave her a slight nod. His face remained buried in the fluff of his pillow. "…Gotta make sure that you didn't scrape yourself on your way down here."

Eugene often mocked her for the excessive amounts of guards or other protection assigned to her; he often teased that he was the only thing that she needed. And she couldn't say that she necessarily disagreed—nothing had ever harmed her under his watch. Rapunzel rolled her eyes slightly and prodded him gently in the bicep with a slender finger. "I'm dying of laughter on the inside."

Eugene finally lifted his head from the depths of his pillows and turned on his side to face her. Their eyes met but nothing was spoken for several minutes, before he patted the bed and invited her to sit on a proper surface. "...What brings you here, dear princess," He left a slightly-sarcastic undertone to her title and stopped as he looked past her to his window. After squinting to the stars and finding no clear indication as to the exact time, he finally gave up and turned back to her. "You know that I don't like mornings."

She laughed quietly and gently nudged him to one side of the bed so that she could completely recline. "I wasn't expecting to wake you up."

"I wasn't expecting you…period."

She smiled. "It's a big palace, but you can't hide from me forever, Eugene."

"Now," Eugene gave her a sleepy smile and outstretched an arm, casually letting it fall behind her head. "Why on _Earth _would I be trying to hide from you?"

"I never get to see you," She gave him an exaggerated frown and threw a fist down onto the sheets. "It's not fair—you're off doing things with father, and I'm stuck with my lessons all day."

He turned to her and shrugged slightly with a smile of his own dancing at his lips. "…You're here now though, right?"

Rapunzel gave him an affirmative nod and dared to slide just a little closer. "I guess that if I had to, I could settle with sneaking out a bit more."

"I'll teach you how to do it—the _right _way. You'll never get caught," He chuckled.

She lifted a hand to her face and let his take it. "I'll hold you to that."

The two then sat in silence for what seemed like forever, until Eugene propped himself onto his elbow and grinned with his white teeth glowing in the dark. "…Happy Valentine's Day."

Rapunzel smiled and slowly nodded.

He blinked upon the realization that she was staring aimlessly and with a clueless glaze to her eyes; her determination to hide it blatant. He lifted an eyebrow and his words were slow. "Do you know what that even is, Rapunzel…?"

Rapunzel's head stopped and she bit her lip sheepishly.

Eugene's expression grew to that of perplexity, though he tried his best to conceal his surprise. "…Do you know who Saint Valentine was?"

She shook her head again, adding a small shrug. "Mother used to talk about some of the saints when I was younger, but she never talked about that one."

"Well," Eugene laughed quietly and he lay back down beside her. "He was a priest in Rome—lived a long time ago," He paused and tilted his head to Rapunzel. "If you get tired of listening to it, let me know and I'll shut up." He gave her a crooked smile.

The princess shook her head and smiled slightly. "I like listening to you."

"If you insist," He laughed as his eyes drifted to the ceiling. "…Anyways, there was this guy, and he was a priest living and married couples under Christianity. There was this emperor, right? And he didn't like that at all—in fact, anybody found anybody marrying or preaching about God was sentenced to death. So when Saint Valentine refused to give up his beliefs, he was put in jail and told he was going to be killed—"

"…Like you?"

Eugene rolled his eyes slightly and murmured a few choice words beneath his breath before he let out a breathy, soft chuckle and nodded. "Yeah…something like that."

"You can keep going, now," She laughed quietly.

"So, Valentine was put in jail and sentenced to death. And while he was in prison, the legend has it that he fell in love with the jail-keeper's daughter. So when he was taken to be executed, he supposedly left a note for her, signed '_from your Valentine'._ "

"And did he die?"

"Yes. He was a martyr."

Rapunzel remained voiceless; she was surprised to find her vision obscuring with warm tears and her face growing hot.

Eugene turned to her.

She ran a swift hand across her face until the heat subsided and her eyes were dry. "But that's so sad…why would anybody want to dedicate a day to that?"

"Well," He lay back down and dragged out an exhale. "That's the thing. People were so amazed by his devotion to his religion and his love for the jailer's daughter that he was made a saint in the Church, and he was eventually given a day—just for him. Every February fourteenth."

Rapunzel rolled onto her side and looked straight to him, with her bright green eyes glowing. "…So what does everybody do?"

"Some people don't do anything—I guess those are the people that don't have anybody to celebrate it with," He smiled wearily, "but the people who _do _celebrate in a lot of different ways, I guess…" He pulled his arm out from underneath her head and sat upright in his bed.

Rapunzel's brow furrowed together and she propped herself onto her elbows. "…Is everything alright?"

Eugene quickly twisted back to her and flashed a reassuring smile. "Well, I got something for you. I don't know if I should give it to you now or just wait until morning."

"I'm impatient, Eugene," She giggled quietly. "I don't feel like waiting."

Eugene stretched his arms above his head. "But princesses don't always get what they want when they want it."

"But I'm the _Lost _Princess. I've got eighteen years of presents and holidays to catch up on; Valentine's Day now being one of them," She grinned.

"You're going to make this hard for me, aren't you?"

Rapunzel nodded in self-induced satisfaction. "_Oui._"

He laughed. "Trying to impress me with your French lessons, I see? It isn't going to get me to hand over your gift any sooner."

She sat upright alongside him and lowered her head, with two sad, glistening jade eyes peering at him behind choppy, messy locks of short brunette hair. "…_S'il vous plait?" _

Eugene let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head low. "…_Fine. _Because you're the princess, I guess that I can make some exceptions."

Rapunzel grinned and clapped her hands together happily—only to have her hands held shut by his larger ones. "Quiet," He laughed softly. "You'll wake everybody up. Now wait here for a second."

He rose from the bed and walked to the opposite side of the room, where he dug into the drawers of an old dresser that she had previously believed to be empty. He reached to the back of the lowest drawer and pulled a thin, wooden box concealed beneath his shadow. Eugene closed the drawer and held his breath as he twisted back on his heels and returned to his bed with the box tucked securely beneath his arm; he could already feel his heart thudding in his chest as he silently prayed that his token would please her. He resumed his former position at her side and held one end of the box out to her; she slowly took it as if afraid that she would break it if not gracious enough.

Rapunzel gave him a quick glance before she searched for the opening seam of the box and she slowly pulled the upper portion of the wood off to reveal soft, delicate black velvet fabric covering something small. She brought herself to peel the velvet away to reveal something silver, glittering in the minimal moonlight that Eugene was allowing into his room during the night. She gasped softly and carefully lifted the article by a thin, silver chain before her face. It was a small, delicate heart with two gems set in its middle, beryl and jasper. She pointed to the darker, deep orange stone and grinned. "That one looks like it matches your eyes—and this one matches mine."

Eugene rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a perplexed smile. "Do you like it, Rapunzel?" His voice fell unusually soft, like an unsure child and Rapunzel quickly realized that he had never given something of this exactly nature before.

"I think it's beautiful," She searched for the chain's clasp and secured it to her neck. "It's _perfect._"

"I thought you would," He grinned and took the box. "I spent _hours _trying to find the right gift—you'd better like it."

She ran her fingers over the shimmering silver heart. "I'm going to wear it every day; I promise."

Eugene fell back into his pillows. "…I had a second part to your gift."

Rapunzel followed him down and smiled. "What's that?"

"It was _supposed _to be flowers."

She lifted an eyebrow and her smile grew into one more of sarcasm. "'Supposed'?"

"I asked the gardener a while ago if he could let me have some of the flowers to give to you—but they never got here," He stopped and released a breath, drawing out his words. "_Probably _because I accidently kicked his brush pile into his lunch last week."

Rapunzel gave him a long, stern stare.

"_On accident, _relax," He grimaced slightly. "He wasn't very happy after that."

"I can only imagine," She rolled her eyes slightly and shook her head. "You can't stay out of trouble, can you? Not even when you're living here?"

"It was an _accident_," He emphasized and he waved his hand.

She pushed his hand away from her face and laughed. "…You know, I _do _have to get back soon."

Eugene shook his head and tugged on her forearm. "I don't think that you do."

Rapunzel gave him a look.

"Fine—I don't think that you _should._"

She bit her lip and gazed at her necklace for several minutes before she turned to face him and held up her hands. "Father's going to kill us both if he finds us here together in the morning. He'll definitely have you hanged, then."

"Then I guess that today's the perfect opportunity to teach you how to sneak your way back—the _correct _way," Eugene gave her a crooked smile.

"…You mean _your _way?"

"Right," He outstretched an arm for her to rest her head upon once more. "The _right _way."

"If you say so," Rapunzel poked him gently in the side with a dainty fist. "I think that your 'Flynn Rider' ego is getting the best of you."

He shrugged. "Gotta let it out sometime," He drew her closer to his body so that she fit nearly perfectly into his slightly curves, like the pieces to a puzzle, "but I think that the sneaking can wait an hour or two."

Rapunzel closed her eyes and buried her face into the crook of his neck. "I suppose that it could."

Eugene was silent as he closed his own eyes and let his chin fall against the crown of her head. His voice had once again taken on a sleepy, hazed tone and his weight was becoming more apparent on her as the time passed. "…Happy Valentine's Day."

She smiled and let her fingers dig into the fabric of his shirt. "Happy Valentine's Day, Eugene."

_Happy __**first **__Valentine's Day._


	4. Chordial

Haha, I love all of you! 3 Getting on here every few days and seeing that there's more and more reviews than before really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside-it's incredible. c: To you guys it might not seem like that big a deal, but for somebody (like me) in which writing is more of a hobby than anything else, it really makes my day. I just wanted to tell all of you that!

So anyways, this idea came from "Lauryn"...I hope that you're reading this right now. xD Having a little knowledge of the topic on hand made me feel like I had done a little better on this chapter than the previous one. Haha. So as always, I accept everybody's reviews and ideas and I'm more than willing to listen. :D

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>…<em>Holy chameleons, did his legs hurt.<em>

Eugene winced as the joints in his knees painfully cracked; his body was beginning to make the sounds of that of the older king's.

_**Everything **__hurt, actually. Every bit of his body._

…Horseback-riding lessons—honestly? He'd been on the back of Maximus himself on more than one occasion, not to mention the horses "borrowed" from lowly farmers in the countryside and merchants too busy selling their wares to pay proper attention to their only transportation. Being kicked in the chest by several wasn't exactly his idea of fun; he would certainly be rather mucking Maximus's stall as further reprimand for his previous, inconsiderate thieving actions during his life under his alias, "Flynn Rider".

He had to learn how to _talk _the right way.

…_Talk._

Eugene had never been extremely eloquent with his speech, but then again—why need it to begin with? Thieving was an occupation of silence; although he knew that the Stabbington Brothers had likely despised him from day one for his big mouth…and his naturally good looks, of course. So when the king approached him with several, other "vital" lessons to follow on his way to becoming an official member of the entourage, he was perplexed, to say the least. He knew that Rapunzel had jumped on her own instructions from day one; however he had never expected himself to follow after. He hadn't even grown up in the slightest shadow of royalty—but come to think of it…neither had she.

So he took each day with one foot in front of the other and held his head high (just as he was told) in hopes that at the end of that very day Rapunzel would be waiting for him outside of the vacant banquet hall after her dance lessons like she had always remembered.

And today was no exception—a typical Wednesday afternoon in which Eugene found himself, again, staring directly past that incessantly-ranting stall-keeper to the palace, where he was almost certain that he could see Rapunzel's purple skirt twirling as she spun before a window. It was like torture; that narcissistic instructor of his must have intentionally decided to bring the horse to the courtyard so that he could know for certain that Eugene was being thoroughly tortured.

And it was working.

"…Sir Fitzherbert?"

_How many times do I have to tell you before you understand that I hate that?_

Eugene's glazed eyes darted back to his forward, where the stout, shorter man stood inches below him. He must have been smiling a little too much—although he wouldn't have assumed that it would have been _that _obvious, even then…that man just liked listening to himself talk, after all.

"Were you even _listening _to me? Or is your head off in the clouds again? I would assume the latter; you're daydreaming about the princess again."

Eugene didn't even have time to get a word past his tongue before his instructor was off and rambling once more; he paid no mind to it and continued on with his blank stare into nothing. At least it gave him something to do.

Between snap backs in which he was make the slightest bit of eye contact with the tubby man to at least appear to be paying minutes amount of attention, his eyes remained fixed upon the girl he thought to be the very one he wished he so badly wished he could be with more.

…He was going to remember to banish this man the very second he became king.

Eugene couldn't have bolted out of those stables any sooner. He ran his way across the courtyard and through the central abbey, finally stopping as he slipped past the kitchen (the cook and him weren't exactly _simpatico_—Eugene had yet to completely break his thieving habits…not that Rapunzel hadn't already noticed). Passing the throne room accompanied the hushed tones within, unmistakably the queen and king's as they spoke of matters of the their kingdom behind thick, tall doors; he could never but help to wonder if they were always actually talking about him and his unusual circumstances beneath residing in the palace itself, now. But he didn't stay long enough today to really care; Eugene continued on down the Abbey and to the typically-vacant ballroom.

…Where Rapunzel wasn't waiting for him.

He glanced over his shoulder a moment before he turned back and craned his head to the side to find the adjoining hall empty as well. "…Rapunzel?"

Nobody replied to his call.

Eugene pressed his ear to the wood of the grand doors; he could hear a muffled, unfamiliar melody singing. His brow furrowed together as he cautiously pushed the door open, his body tense as he anticipated on finding another crabby, uninterested tutor waiting to scold him for barging in, unannounced.

But instead, a bright pair of green eyes met his and a matching smile greeted him. "…Eugene."

Perplexed, he nodded slightly to find her sitting with a guitar—almost as large as her—sitting across her lap as she perched upon one of the ballroom's eloquent chairs. He stepped further into the wide expanse and pulled a chair for himself from the side, making sure to place it directly in front of hers as if to make sure his eyes never left hers. "…I wasn't expecting you to still be in here."

"I told Madame Dupont that I wasn't feeling very well," She smiled kindly and gently tapped the cedar wood of her guitar. "So I ran down to my room and grabbed this."

"I didn't know that you played," He returned her smile with one of his own. "You never told me that."

"Really?" She idly fiddled with the strings and lifted her head back to his. "I guess you just end up learning more about me each day."

Her tone was soft and it set Eugene uneasy as he fidgeted awkwardly in his seat. "…How did your lesson go?"

The princess shrugged slightly and bit her lower lip. "I'm still stepping on her feet whenever we try dancing together," She laughed quietly. "She gets so frustrated with me for that."

He leaned forward and crossed his arms across his chest. "You've been back for a month—she shouldn't be expecting you to understand everything right away."

"I know," She paused and her mouth twisted to the side as she reached for a wooden pick on a small end table at her side. "I just don't want to disappoint her."

Eugene's hazel eyes narrowed and he stared at her for several minutes as she casually played mindless notes. "Is everything…" He stopped and slowed his words, as if upset to hurt her. "Is everything alright…?"

Rapunzel frowned, something that was rarely seen upon her face, and after a long time of deliberation she sighed. "I just want to have _fun._"

He laughed. "Isn't having lessons fun, though?"

She rolled her eyes and she shook her head, giving him a weary and mischievous grin. "…Not exactly my idea of 'exciting'."

"_Fine_," He dragged out, half-teasingly. "What do you want to do?"

The princess pulled the crown from her head and looked him, straight in the eyes and without hesitation, spoke. "…I had fun in my tower."

Eugene's head fell to one side and he was silent. Why she would even consider going back there was anybody's guess, but it wasn't his to say.

"I mean, I wasn't allowed to go outside, so…I found other things to do. And I might have gotten tired of them after doing them so much, but I'm starting to miss it all," Rapunzel lifted the guitar from her lap and held it before her for him to see. "Like I used to play this all of the time—almost every day."

Eugene gave her a faint, one-sided smile and he took it from her dainty hands. "Are you good at it?"

She smiled and gently nodded. "I'd like to think so, anyways. When you're stuck up in a tower for that long, you've gotta do _something._ It's not that hard, really. I taught myself."

He lifted a dark eyebrow and placed his finger against the second string, cringing as it let out a high-pitched, squealing _twang. _He promptly handed it back and chuckled softly, shaking his head. "…Not easy enough for me."

Rapunzel giggled and took it back into her lap. She placed her fingers accordingly against the frets and carefully, meticulously strummed chords. "I think that you'd get the hang of it if you just took the time to mess with it a little."

Eugene leaned back into his chair and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm too busy sword-fighting to learn."

She shrugged. "…It gets your mind off of things, if that helps," Her fingers continued with their elegant, flawless strumming. Looked like Rapunzel wasn't the naïve, trapped girl he had initially thought her to be—she knew far more about the world than even he did at times.

"Gets your mind off of things, you say?" Eugene held his hands out and accepted the guitar once more. "Seeing is believing."

Rapunzel gave him a mischievous smirk and pointed out the floral, delicate woodwork carved into the front and up the neck. "It matches you _perfectly._ A guitar made for a prince, in my opinion."

He rolled his light eyes. "I thought so, too."

She grinned as she sat on the edge of her own seat and took his fingers between hers, placing his index finger against the second fret on the fifth string, and doing the same with his middle finger on the fourth. She handed him her pick and leaned back. "…Hit all of strings."

"What am I even—"

"_Hit all of the strings,_" She was much sterner and her emerald eyes didn't blink.

Eugene did as he was told and slowly hit all of the strings with the pick, smiling in satisfaction as he created a pleasant, resonating sound. "…How was that?"

She nodded in content. "That's called 'E minor.'"

He strummed it over and over, pleased with himself that he had created an affable sound.

Rapunzel grabbed his hand and stopped him. She pulled his fingers from their positions forming E minor and rearranged them accordingly to form another chord. "And this is 'C'…hit the bottom five."

Eugene ran the pick across the last five strings, only to cringe upon hearing a sickly _twang _resonate.

"Make sure you're on the tips of your fingers," Rapunzel laughed softly as she slowly lifted his calloused fingers to their tips. "It'll make some of the strings stop vibrating if you aren't."

"Easy for you to say," He smiled as he took one of Rapunzel's fingers and held it in front of her own face. "Look at the size of _your _hands."

"So?" She giggled. She pulled her fingers away from his grip and instead pressed her palm to his, beaming as her fingers only met the start of his.

He laughed. "See? That's why you can play so much better than me."

"You've learned two chords," She beamed.

"And that's _all _I'm going to be able to learn; I wouldn't be able to remember past five."

"Come on," She took the guitar from his lap and set it back into hers. "It's not _that _hard. You just have to get your hands used to it."

"Rapunzel—I can use a sword, but I can't even play the guitar. I don't think that 'getting your hands used to it' has anything to do with learning how to play."

She smiled and shook her head slowly. "Whatever you think."

He rested his palms on his knees. "Then you can show me what _you _know how to play."

"Well…"

Rapunzel placed her fingers against certain frets and fiddled with her pick, turning it in her hands nervously before she looked back to him. "So I was sitting by myself a few nights ago last week after my speaking language lessons and I came up with this…"

She played the first chord. "…_All those days, watching from the windows_."

Eugene's breath caught in his chest for a moment.

Rapunzel stopped and tapped the neck of the guitar with the fingers on her left hand. "That was 'C'," She continued and strummed the same chord again. "…_All of those years, outside looking in_."

He gave her an encouraging, small smile to continue on.

And she did. Her melody continued, moving her fingers appropriately. "_…All that time, never really knowing just how blind I've been."_

Her voice rose slightly, and she seemed more proud of herself. Her gaze met his and she smiled.

Eugene's crooked smile rose and he leaned forward, closer to the princess's face. His voice joined hers, and the two made a harmony that reverberated throughout the entire ballroom.

"_And at last I see the light—"_

Rapunzel paused and she looked at him. He finished, his hazel eyes leaving hers not once. "…_And it's like the fog has lifted," _Her voice joined his once more and her fingers never missed a single beat. "_And at last I see the light," _His voice trailed off beneath hers and she inhaled. "_And it's like the sky is new."_

"_And it's warm, and real, and bright—and the world has somehow shifted…"_

She stopped and smiled gently. She pulled her hands away from the guitar and slowly turned her wrists. "…They get sore after a while. How do you think I did?"

Eugene chuckled softly. "It was amazing, to say the least. Something I could never do."

She hummed softly and said nothing as she continued to look at him and he did the same, neither moving for what felt like forever before she finally set down the guitar at her side and rose to her feet—which also ached from hours of dancing. "I'm going to get something to eat. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

He nodded and pushed his chair back to its former position at the side of the room.

Rapunzel waited for him and turned on her heels, only to find upon reaching the doorway that Eugene hadn't completely pursued her.

"…Rapunzel?"

She turned; his gaze met hers and he carried a smile upon his face.

"_All at once, everything looks different—now that I see you."_

Rapunzel blushed, taking his outstretching hand in doing so. "…You don't have a bad singing voice, Eugene Fitzherbert. Maybe you can join me in my voice lessons sometime."

"Sorry," He handed her a smirk of his own as he leaned closer. "I'm not too good at doing two things at once—can't sing and kiss at the same time."

She rolled her eyes and pressed her mouth to his, laughing beneath his lips softly.

_Guitar lessons were something that they'd have to do more often._


	5. Dinner Fit for a King

_You guys, I am so excited! _I'm going to Disney World soon; I've never been there and I guess you can say it's been my dream for a while there (see the _Tangled _reference? C:) _**I'm so happy! **_Hopefully it doesn't rain the entire time.

Anyways...sorry, I'M JUST SO GOSH DERN EXCITED.

This chapter's for **KaylaBelle**-I hope you're going to get the chance to read this soon (as well as the rest of you!). Let's hope I didn't completely let you down; this one was a bit harder to write because for WHATEVER reason, it was difficult for me to keep everybody in character at times. But I think I did a fairly decent job-what do you guys think? I tried to make it a bit humorus, while adding a bit of touching things here and there...just to show the soft side of everybody. c:

I'm gonna shut up now-_**Enjoy! **_

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><p>His palms were sweating—he had never seen so many forks and knives before in his life.<p>

There was _three _of each, not to mention the two spoons at his left. _Three._

Eugene took in a breath as he slowly sat at his chair to the king's left; he could feel his eyes burning into him as he posed. The younger man's eyes drifted to the princess sitting on the queen's right, in the same seat adjacent to him. She was staring in awe at the generous amounts of silverware; he was somewhat relieved to know that he wasn't the only one that had never seen so much dining pieces before in their life.

…Was he even supposed to sit down?

He had to take a few quick, sideways glances to reassure himself that he had gotten everything correct thus far.

Three lessons with Rapunzel, three—just on dinner alone, and he was _still _more confused than anybody else could have imagined.

"…Eugene."

He took a deep inhale and withheld it in his chest; he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to remember the order in which the courses were served. He was in trouble if the servants asked him what he would like and he had no idea what to say—the menu was a completely different discussion in itself. He kept his hands on the arms of his seat; something about it being rude to pick up eating utensils before everyone has reached the table…

"_Eugene._"

He turned to the sound of his name to the king, much to his horror. "Yes, sir?"

_What if that's not what he wants to be called? But being called 'highness'…_

"…Have you ever partaken in an event, such as this?"

The king's large words frightened Eugene—he was beginning to feel unintelligent already.

_Good feelings to start the dinner off with._

Eugene slowly shook his head and shot a glance to the queen, whose gaze was gentler, yet almost equally as intimidating. These were Rapunzel's _parents, _for goodness sake, the very king and queen of Corona. He had been raised to a profession in which the law was the enemy; he could already imagine embarrassing the royal family in front of the nobles…they were sure to have his head by the end of the night. Or even worse—he would be banned from seeing Rapunzel. His eyes fell once more upon the king and he shook his head more firmly. "…No, Your Majesty."

The king's head tilted ever so slightly to his left, as if studying every bit of Eugene's persona. It made the ex-thief flinch; the last time that somebody had looked at him like that was the last time that he had stood before the judge in court, waiting for a sentencing. The king seemed pleased with his title; he gave Eugene a small smile and bobbed his head once before facing back to his wife.

_At least I did __**something **__right._

A small, barely audible giggle was heard, and his eyes quickly found the source. Rapunzel sat at her seat in front of him, giggling behind a hand. A faint smile began to tug at the corners of his lips and he mouthed to her, _"What?"_

The princess shoved a finger to her parents and grinned.

"_They're going to kill me."_

She shook her head. _"They like you."_

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Of course—they _adore _their future son-in-law, whose résumé consisted of "ex-con" and "ex-thief", just to name a few. _Simply wonderful._

"…Rapunzel?"

The young woman turned to her mother and flashed a kind smile. "…Yes, mother?"

"Is everything alright?" The queen's sage eyes quickly darted from Eugene and back to her daughter.

Rapunzel nodded. "Just refreshing his memory on some of our lessons," She shot a glance to him before continuing. "Everything's alright."

Eugene's light eyes narrowed and he stared her down as he could only help but feel that she was taking ornate pleasure in torturing him at dinner. He sank into the plush of his chair and watched with dissatisfaction as the nobles accompanying the dinner took their seats.

This was going to be the longest dinner ever.

* * *

><p>"…And so I told him, 'if a job's what you're looking for, then you might as well turn right around and start looking somewhere else!'"<p>

The dining hall erupted in laughter; Eugene and Rapunzel could only gaze at one another and pretend that they were actually interested for a moment in the duke's dry humor. The entire two courses thus far had been an entire rut; even the king seemed to be growing old of jokes he had heard thousands of times.

Eugene's head was already on his elbow—something he was told_ not _to do—and his eyes were quickly beginning to fade as was his posture. He prayed that whiney etiquette tutor wasn't watching them from atop the ceiling. He yawned and closed his eyes for a minute; if he could just pretend like he was falling deathly ill, maybe he could excuse himself from the table…

He suddenly flinched as a set of bare toes gently tapped his knee. His head shot from his elbow and he turned from side to side several times, as if to verify that it wasn't the flamboyant countess several seats down. His head dipped beneath the table and he smiled as he found Rapunzel's dainty foot tapping against his booted toes, with her own shoes kicked off to the side. She had never been one for shoes.

She beamed and fought his foot against hers, laughing as their eyes remained locked on one another. "…You're looking like you're just about to fall over."

He ran a hand over his eyes and nodded slowly, with his foot pushing hers away. "Aren't you? Dessert's taking forever to get here."

Rapunzel shrugged slightly and smiled. "I didn't think that you'd be that hungry—you were so panicky earlier."

"I don't want to be executed for embarrassing the king," He held his hands out onto the table with hers resting securely within. "He's your _father._"

The princess waved a hand. "I won't let him do that to you," She grinned. "He knows that I'd hate him forever."

Eugene shot a glance to the king and queen, who sat chattering to one another obliviously. He cracked a grin and gave her smaller foot an affable shove. "You'll protect me, won't you?"

She gave him a humoring smirk and pulled on his fingers. "Of course I will," She laughed.

A duchess sitting at the opposite end of the table raised her hand to a servant resting alongside the wall. The maid swiftly crossed the hall and knelt to meet her at eye-level, only to have a hand flicked to her face once more and was angrily shoved back with a finger. Rapunzel and Eugene watched as the servant rose once more to her feet and quickly rushed from the room before she ran back in with a silver platter in hand; she placed it in front of the bulky duchess and gave her a sloppily-formed curtsy before she rushed back to her former position at the entrance.

Eugene frowned. "…She's eating well, anyways—looks like she couldn't wait."

"She never does," Rapunzel sighed softly and bit her lip. "She's always mean to our servants; she's never happy with anything."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Why is she always here, then?"

"Her husband's in charge of making sure that the merchants that come through here have the proper licensing," She shrugged slightly. "She just comes because her husband's invited."

"Looks like she only comes for the menu," He murmured as he watched the duchess pushed heaps of food into her mouth.

Rapunzel drew her hand from his and picked up her spoon; she carefully scooped a small amount of scalloped potatoes onto it and studied it carefully for several minutes.

Eugene's head fell to the side and he gently hit her foot. "...What are you doing?"

"You'll see," She gave him a devilish smirk and in an instant, he knew what she was planning on doing. He shook his head slowly and let out a huff.

"Don't you dare," His eyes grew wide and he concentrated on her hand pulling the tip of the spoon back from just above her plate. "_Don't you dare…_"

She released the spoon and the potatoes flew across the table, where they struck the duchess square in the cheek. Rapunzel hastily dropped the spoon and resumed eating; Eugene could only stare with his mouth held agape as he sat in mild shock as to what the well-behaved princess had just done.

Everybody else at the table immediately turned in his immediate direction with stone faces; he sunk in his seat and uncomfortably crossed his arms across his chest. Rapunzel lowered her head to conceal her grin and he looked to her before he sheepishly turned back to the nobles with his face growing hot. "It wasn't me."

From the corner of his eye, Eugene could see the king slowly turning to him. He refused to meet eye contact and his gaze was glued to his half-empty plate—he suddenly wasn't feeling so hungry anymore. Once the duchess finished cleaning her face and the voices continued on, he faced Rapunzel and he sighed. "…Why do they _always_ think it's me?"

"You _were _a thief," She laughed and pointed her fork to him. "Who knows what other things you got yourself into."

"…Your tower."

"Thank goodness," She laughed softly.

He shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. "You're going to be the one to get me killed, Princess."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on—it was funny."

"She doesn't think so," Eugene shoved a thumb to the tubby noble—who had resumed her incessant eating—and smiled.

Rapunzel picked at the peas on her plate like a little child and pointed her nose upward. "Then I guess she just doesn't know how to laugh at herself."

He smiled and watched her as she ate; somewhere in between it all her hands found his and they were back to fighting with their feet beneath the dining table. He chuckled and leaned closer to her face, careful not to speak loudly enough for the king and queen to overhear. "…You're going to have to give me the dirt on some of these people—I wanna know who I'm coming up against, here."

She laughed.

"_Come on,_" He urged with his hand tugging on her wrist. "I'm gonna be royalty too, someday."

"You act like you already are," She smirked, "but I guess I can do that for you." She pointed to a tall man sitting in her father's position at the opposite end. "That's Marquess Gagne. I heard he used to be a criminal, too. There was a rumor that he murdered his wife when they were younger…"

Eugene's eyes narrowed as he inspected the woman sitting at his side. "…And I take it that's his second wife."

She nodded.

He pointed to a man sitting several seats down from his left. The man was slouched in his seat with a belly as large as he was across, and his laughs roared throughout the entire hall. "And him?"

"Viscount Rais. He's a drunk more than a viscount, really," Rapunzel giggled, "but he's very nice when he's sober. He likes to have fun more than anything else. His wife is sort of the same way," Her eyes shifted to the pudgy woman sitting next to the viscount.

Eugene scanned the room for anybody seeming out of place before he came across a slender, older woman sitting as stiff as a plank in her seat with her twiggy fingers twirling a fork against her plate. Her mouth was pursed in a thin line and she had looked as if she had been frowning for a lifetime; her dull, gray eyes hardly moved. "…Who is she?"

"She's Countess Vãduva," She paused for a moment and watched the lone woman mindlessly pick at her meal. "She doesn't speak very much…she usually just keeps to herself. She's sort of mean—I don't think anybody's really ever seen her smile."

"Why do you think she's like that?"

Rapunzel turned to the queen for a moment before she continued. "…Mother told me that she had a husband a long time ago," She smiled sadly, "and she loved him so much—there was never a time when you didn't see her with him. But when he started to get sick, she started looking all over for something to make him well again. The doctors said that they couldn't do anything for him, and he ended up dying soon after. So…"

"So she's always like this."

The princess nodded slowly. "She's not happy anymore. After he died, nothing made her happy. Now she's just bitter."

Eugene watched as the countess twirled her pasta onto her fork and let it lazily drop back onto her plate; he couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking about the man she had once loved so dearly.

"But, I guess," Rapunzel's sad smile turned into that of a happier demeanor and her eyes seemed to light up just a bit brighter. "I guess that means that I should probably be even happier because you got the chance that he didn't, right?"

He smiled and gave her a firm, reassuring squeeze to her hand. "I'm not going to go anywhere."

She grinned and held out her pinky finger. "Pinky Promise?"

Eugene laughed and locked his finger around hers. "Promise."

The princess pointed to several servants emerging from the kitchen. "…Just in time for dessert."

* * *

><p>"…It-t'was nice to see you again, my dear princess," Viscount Rais slurred as he took Rapunzel's smaller hand and gave it an exaggerated shake. He staggered away, accompanied by his wife who gratefully curtsied to the princess and followed her husband to the foyer where they were escorted out by the king and queen's servants. The other nobles in attendance did the same soon thereafter and as everybody began to leave, Rapunzel noticed that Eugene was nowhere to be found. He had left the table before she had a chance to get up; she was hoping that the food he had eaten hadn't disagreed with his stomach or something of the sort.<p>

Upon watching the last guest walk out the door, she turned to her mother and father, trailing closely behind her. "…Have you seen Eugene?"

The queen lifted a slender finger to the door. "I saw him last escorting the countess out, earlier."

Rapunzel lifted an eyebrow. "…Countess Vãduva?"

She gave her daughter a gentle nod.

The princess turned on her heels and peered around the corner of the door; she stopped upon finding Eugene and the countess standing outside of her carriage, with her arm draped lightly under his. Rapunzel couldn't help but smile; it appeared as if Eugene had paid at least a little attention during their dining lessons.

Countess Vãduva rose on her toes and she placed a small kiss onto Eugene's cheek before her carriage servant opened the door and she stepped in, giving him a small wave in doing so. Eugene blinked; she giggled and watched as he blankly turned to face her. He took her into his arms and they watched as the carriage disappeared into the night.

"…You made her happy," Rapunzel buried her face into his chest. "You reminded her of him."

Eugene chuckled and rested his chin atop the crown of her head; he closed his eyes in contentment and he held her tighter to him. "…I saw her smile."


	6. Head Rush Part 1

Oh heeeey. (: Just wanted to take a second to thank all of you guys-I appreciate all of your reviews sooooo much; I don't think that you guys have any idea! I love all of the ideas that all of you are giving me and I _assure_ you that all of your requests will be fulfilled; just give me some time! xD I'll always **TAKE** more ideas, too!

This chapter's another one of **Flynnriderfanatic**'s ideas; I was threatened with the idea of not receiving anymore prompts if I didn't do this one! This one's to you; I'm sorry but I'm going to have to split this prompt into two different chapters (with a few unrelated ones in between) because it's sort of a strewn-out idea; I still enjoyed writing it, however.

All of you, feel free to tell me how I did! I'm not used to writing heavy action so I'm sorry if this seems a little rushed. xD But I think it turned out pretty darn-tootin' well. c:

Oh, and, before I quit my ranting-I'm already thinking of a story to follow up on the last chapter ("Dinner Fit for a King"), dealing more with Countess Vaduva (which means "widow" in Romanian, in case you were wondering) because a few requested a chapter going more in-depth with the Countess's story.

**Note: I will be gone for two weeks (coming back on the Saturday in between), so I'm going to apologize in advance for my inability to update in a decent time frame, given the amount of prompts I've recieved. _But the week after those two weeks, I'm going to be leaving for Disney World and I'll have more inspiration, getting to meet Rapunzel and all! :D _**(I wish they hadn't gotten rid of Flynn Rider's face character at Walt Disney World, you guys should totally sign the petition to help and hopefully bring him back! Emailing Disney World and driving them insane with your anger would also help. C:)

Enough of me-enjoy!

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><p>"…He loves me," Rapunzel pulled a petal from the vibrant flower she held. "He loves me not."<p>

"Rapun—"

The princess beamed as she spun on her toes and the purple hem of her skirt twirled. "He _loves _me, he loves me not…" She pulled two more cream-colored petals from her flower. "He loves me…" Another petal fluttered to the pavement.

Eugene chased after her and reached out, with his fingers just barely brushing her arm. "Come on," He laughed and lunged forward, giving Rapunzel the extra hand as he tumbled to the street.

She laughed and shook her head. "Nope. I've gotta finish this first," She pulled yet another petal from the bloom and laughed. "He loves me not."

His hand extended and she whirled to face him at the force of his grip; "He loves you," Eugene pressed his mouth to hers and he held her close. He chuckled. "…I love you."

Rapunzel smiled as she tossed the spent flower to the ground where merchants' carts and the footsteps of people would eventually dispose of it. "And I love you," Their hands joined and he lead her carefully through the daily thickets of people bartering and bickering within the marketplace.

"…So I see that her royal highness was able to sneak out of her lessons today," Eugene flashed a smirk and in return, earned one.

"I don't have to sneak out anymore—"

"Anymore," He corrected.

"_Anymore_," She sighed softly, "but I'm supposed to be a member of the royal court soon; there aren't many more lessons left to take. I'm not complaining," She laughed softly and looked to him. "…What about _you_?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and let his head fall against his hand; she found the greatest pleasure in reminding him each and every day of his particular mishaps—specifically when he angered his fellow residents in the palace and there was screaming and other forms of reprimanding involved. "I didn't have to go today. I think he's finally deciding to give me a break."

"Uh huh," Rapunzel nodded slowly, "or he just decided that he couldn't stand you."

"You know it's a bit of both," Eugene laughed and he kicked several stray apples to the side of the street. "Looks like Maximus isn't keeping up with his job."

The princess giggled and did the same with a half-smashed apple lying abandoned in the path. "He's got enough to think about; I don't think I've ever heard of a horse becoming the foremost man—animal—of the Palace Guard."

He shook his head. "You came along with some of the strangest things, didn't you?"

"I guess so," She beamed and closed her eyes as the heavy scent of baking pastries filled her nostrils. "Pet chameleons, glowing hair…"

"Frying pans."

She nodded. "How could I forget something like that?"

"I don't remember much after the _third _time you hit me with it," His eyes locked on her and they teasingly narrowed; his arms crossed and his back turned away.

"But you're alright now," She patted the top of his hand with a set of slender fingers and giggled. "That's all in the past."

Eugene led her into a sunlit alley, with vines chasing one another along the worn, yellow brick walls. She had loved it back here from the very first moment he took her there; he had enough experience with the alleys as it was.

"I found a cat here last week—he looked sick," The slender princess pointed to a corner in the bricking and an empty bowl. "I didn't want to just leave him out here, but I knew that Pascal's horrified of cats. So I brought him some food for him to eat here."

Eugene knelt before the empty bowl and slowly tipped it on its rims; his gaze rose to meet Rapunzel's sage eyes. "Have you seen it since?"

She shook her head slowly. "I hope nothing happened to him…I tried to get him to come closer to me, but he ran off."

"It's probably never been around people," The young man rose to his feet and he didn't let her look away for a second; his face softened as he watched the princess helplessly begin to frown and her brow furrow together—something that she only did when she was thoroughly upset. His arm found its resting place around her waist and he nudged the bowl back to the corner. "…I'm sure he's alright. You're taking care of him; he's in good hands."

She giggled softly and her head tipped back against his shoulder. "You think so?"

"You've never let me down before," He gave her a crooked smile and he earned a quick kiss to his lips.

Rapunzel lightly hopped across open cracks in the uneven, broken pavement and she twisted back. "I'd like to try ice…ice—" She paused and her frown returned as she struggled to think of the proper word. He had told her about it such a long time ago…What was it called, again?

"_Ice cream,_" Eugene lightly smiled and she took hold of his arm. "It's called 'ice cream'. I think that you'd like it if you tried it."

She grinned. "Does it come in different flavors?"

"All kinds, Princess."

* * *

><p>"…Do you see 'em, do you?"<p>

"Shut up, Cyan," The taller man lowered the rusted telescope from his eyes and he slipped it into his satchel. "I can't keep track of them when you won't shut your damn mouth. They're going through those back alleys there."

Cyan gave a yellow-toothed grin. "Emlen-Ain't that cute? He's buyin' her some ice cream," He pointed to the two small dots, barely distinct through the crowds.

Emlen grunted and the corners of his cracked lips rose slightly. "Wish I had somebody to buy me treats."

"You know I'd get you somethin', if I could," Cyan snorted jokingly and he nudged his friend in the ribs.

"How 'bout all that money that got taken from me?" Emlen frowned and leaned over the window sill to inspect the marketplace. "I'd like all that back in my pocket."

The other man's greedy grin spread across his face and his eyes followed the speck in the distance. "We'll get back at him…I promise."

* * *

><p>Eugene watched as Rapunzel cautiously licked the mound of strawberry ice cream atop a cone. "…How is it?"<p>

She slowly twisted her mouth from side to side and after much deliberation, finally clicked her tongue. "I like it—and you said that there are other flavors?"

He nodded as led her ahead with his hand on the small of her back. "A lot more."

Rapunzel nibbled on the ice cream and winced as the cold hit the surface of her teeth. "…What's your favorite?"

"I'm not sure," Eugene shrugged and smiled as she turned. "I haven't had enough of it to really decide."

She held her cone above her shoulder and looked at him over her shoulder. "Try this."

He shook his head slowly and gently pushed her hand away. "No, thanks."

"Don't you like strawberries?"

The young man laughed and nodded. "They're alright—but not my favorite."

Rapunzel held a finger and grinned. "It's because it's they're too girly, right?"

Eugene gave her an exaggerated shrug. "_No_, of course not."

She giggled and turned on her heels. "Uh-huh."

He pushed her through another back alley, being certain that at least a few times he caught a scraggly cat scampering out of sight. Rapunzel finished her ice cream and turned back to him with a smile on her face; from the back of her ear and concealed within her brunette locks was another, small bloom. He rolled his eyes. "…You're going to do this, again?"

Rapunzel laughed and slowly reached for one of the pink petals. "He loves me…"

"This is ridiculous," Eugene snatched it from her fingers and he threw it aside. "I wish those girls never taught you that," He pointed through the narrow passageway directly to a set of three red-headed girls, each taking turns braiding one another's hair.

She grinned.

He held up his hands before him and she took them. "…Teach them something with hair; you'd know what that's like," He took a piece of her brown, choppy hair and showed her.

"I can't do _anything _with this," Rapunzel frowned slightly. "You cut it too short."

He sighed and they stopped; he trapped her against the wall and he gave her a crooked grin. "I wasn't too worried about how it looked—you look beautiful all the same." It earned a laugh.

"I see how it is," She snuck a kiss onto his lips and smirked. "Then I guess I'll just have to find another man who will cut my hair even _better._"

Eugene stopped her as she tried to duck beneath his arm. "We can't have that, can we?"

She smiled. "...You know I wouldn't even think about it."

"Well," He inhaled and let her free. "You should be getting back—don't want everybody being angry with you for being away for too long."

The princess sighed and her head fell back. "I don't want to…not right now. Can't we just stay out here," She tugged on his hand pleadingly. "…Just for a little bit?"

Eugene gave her a long, hard stare before he released the air in his chest. "Fine. But if I get in trouble for bringing you back late; I'm going to blame it on you."

Rapunzel smiled and she skipped ahead. "I think I could handle that."

He tried to recall his steps, remembering the way in which they had come before he began to realize Rapunzel's hand was becoming more of a weight. He watched as her skips slowed and soon, altogether stopped. She twisted back and smiled to him. "So I was thinking that we should—"

"You're just trying to get us away from that palace," He gave her a smug smile. "I'm not stupid." He noticed that her large green eyes didn't meet his fully. His smile dropped and he moved his face; a frown on his face. "...Rapunzel?"

"…Who's that, Eugene?" Her finger pointed past him and to the exit of the alley. He didn't look right away; his head slowly began to turn.

"…_Flynn Rider_."

He spun at the sound of his former alias; two large men stood side by side, wall to narrow wall. His brow furrowed and he didn't speak.

"Long time, no see—huh?" The taller man took a step forward; Eugene stood in front of Rapunzel slowly but steadily. "I missed you, you know."

Eugene tilted his head away from the men and was already searching for the nearest exit. "Who are you…?"

Rapunzel frowned and she felt small in the large men's shadows as they drew nearer.

The scrawnier, equally as intimidating one advanced forth and he gave a yellow-toothed grin. "See, look at that! He's even got a princess now."

The tall one didn't stop as he gave Eugene a shrug. "…Just some old friends, passing by," His voice rose and fell leisurely; it made both Rapunzel and Eugene uneasy as the men were suddenly trapping them, pressed firmly against a wall. "Thought we'd stop by for a visit before we went on our merry way."

Eugene shook his head slowly and he reached for Rapunzel's hand. "I don't know who you are—I'm sorry," He swallowed and he urged the princess ahead of him as his pace began to quicken.

"You don't have to run; we just want something that you owe us," The scrawnier man beamed and he led the taller man down the alley, towards the couple.

"I don't owe either of you, anything. You must have the wrong person," Eugene pressed his hand against the small of the princess's back and he continued to nudge her forward ahead. "…I'm sorry."

"Who are they?" Rapunzel whispered to him as she leaned over his shoulder to view the men.

He said nothing.

"I think you might just remember _me,_" The bulkier man persisted. Emlen tilted his head to the side where a fairly large and distinguished scar stood on the side of his temple and extended to his cheek bone. "…Remember that little get-together, Rider?"

Eugene stopped and his eyes grew wide as the man showed him his healed wound.

"Yeah, you stoles all Emlen's money and gave him a good slice upside the head, you did," Cyan poked a dirty finger to Eugene and he quickly backed up. "Took my wife's fancy jewels too, you did."

Eugene eyed the two men and his hazel orbs cautiously watched as Emlen reached into his torn jacket and began to reach for something. The hilt of a gleaming blade glittered through the yellow light seeping in between the walls; Eugene's eyes shot to Emlen and he spun, pushing Rapunzel—harder than he knew he had the right to—and looked over his shoulder. "…Run."

Rapunzel stumbled as the hem of her dress caught under her feet; she winced as Eugene lifted her by her arm. "Go, Rapunzel. Hurry," His own labored breaths only panicked her more as she suddenly became more aware of how fast the men were moving upon them.

"Eugene, who are they?" She struggled to catch her own breath; the alley suddenly wound and she was beginning to lose her sense of direction in the maze of back alleys. She peered over her shoulder to see Eugene close behind, much to her relief.

He did the same over his own shoulder and turned back to face her. "I can't explain right now—just move."

Rapunzel stopped and frowned in dismay as she found a dead-end. She spun and quickly scanned for another alley to elude the two men, pushing past Eugene to another, more narrow gap in the buildings. She pulled his hand with her and he slid into the shadows with her.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you," He looked to her. "I promise."

She took his hand and urged him to stop; they leaned against the left wall and she slouched over to grab her knees. Huffing, she lifted her head to Eugene and waved a hand in front of her. "…I think," She coughed. "I think that they stopped following us…"

He leaned against the wall and gently pushed her hand back. "Be quiet for a while; I don't know where they are…" He wheezed and ran a hand through his sweaty locks. "Just don't move too quickly."

"Eugene…" She gave him a gaze of wild shock.

He held his breath and closed his eyes for several minutes. "I'm sorry."

She rose upright and ran a sleeve across her forehead. "For what…?"

He sighed; his eyes remained shut. "They're looking for me," He bit his lip.

"…Why?"

"I stole some money from them about two years ago—I don't know what they're doing, still looking for me," He reached into a hilt in his belt to reveal a small dagger.

Rapunzel gasped softly and she looked to the light of the marketplace at the end of the alley. "Why do you have that, Eugene…?"

He shook his head and he slid it back into the hilt. "I wasn't planning on using it—only if I need to."

She watched his hands slide the weapon back and she came closer to him in a daze; Eugene held his arms out and she buried her face into his shoulder, his heart letting out a thick thud. She wanted to cry—she wanted to leave, more than anything. But she couldn't bring any one, exact emotion to come forth. Rapunzel closed her eyes and her arms wrapped securely beneath his. "…I think they lost us."

He nodded and drew back with a faint smile tugging upon the corners of his lips. He pointed to the light seeping through the hole in the wall and he directed her towards it encouragingly, despite her hesitance.

"…Eugene?"

"Huh?"

Rapunzel held his hand tighter as she peered around the corner and withheld her breath in her chest.

_Nobody._

She released her air and pulled on his wrist. "How much did you take from them?"

He blinked. "Why—"

"I just want to know," She said quickly—too quickly—and faced him. "You must have taken enough to make them chase you here."

Eugene rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and his eyes didn't initially meet hers; he frowned and he shook his head as if shaking away the bad thoughts accompanying his memories. "The bigger one—I took a lot of money from him once, right out of his pocket. But he noticed before I could get away; I took the blade out of his bag, and…" His voice trailed off into the stagnant air and his head fell to his shoulder.

"You did that to him…?"

"It was an accident," He stopped her. "I didn't think it would hurt him that badly…"

Rapunzel swallowed and she carefully studied Eugene from head to toe. "…And the other guy?"

"I snuck into his house one night—the two guys were neighbors, actually…some town in the middle of nowhere. I stole some of his wife's jewelry; didn't get away with half of it, though," He chuckled softly, but it earned nothing but a stern glare from her. He ceased and cleared his throat before he continued. "…His wife started to wake up; I took what I could and ran out of there as fast as I could."

She poked her head around another corner before she continued onward. "It's all in the past, now."

"...I never wanted—"

Rapunzel gasped as a strong force dragged her back several feet and she cried as something pulled the back of her corset. She stumbled to face the opposite direction and Eugene was struggling against the two men that they had thought that they had long since lost; she caught his eyes and he managed to free an arm long enough to point her in the opposite direction. "Rapunzel, _go!_"

She shook her head slowly. "Eugene," She cried as Cyan bound her in his arms and she growled; kicking and frantically beating his forearms as he pulled her further back. "_Eugene!"_

"Let her _go!_" Eugene struggled against Emlen and he reached for the blade on his belt. "Just let her—"

"No, you don't," Emlen threw Eugene's weapon to the ground and he forced him against the wall; the former thief cried out and the larger man chuckled and he bent down to retrieve the dagger. "I don't think that you should have done that, Rider.

"_Eugene!_" Rapunzel continued to fight against Cyan's hold; his hand covered her mouth and she tried to scream—she tried to make him release her but to no avail. Horrid memories of sharp, silver blades covered in blood and white gags consumed her and she could feel hot tears of anger welling within her eyes.

Eugene could feel something tricking down his neck, something warm. His vision was shooting sparks of black and purple; he wasn't sure as to how much longer he was going to be able to keep himself up before he completely toppled over and his limbs felt as if they were composed of pure iron. He looked to Rapunzel, still struggling against the man's hold and he found the strength within him to fight against the larger man holding him now; the man shoved him harder and he winced as a sickening thud struck his ear. He couldn't see anything-the world was growing dark but he could still hear the frightened girl's cries.

Rapunzel shrieked and tugged on Cyan's grimy hand. "Eugene!"

"Look-it what we have here," Emlen released Eugene and he slumped to the ground. "We got ourselves a princess."

Rapunzel reached for her crown and she held it to him with pleading eyes.

Emlen towered above her and he gave her a wicked grin, taking pleasure in seeing her battle his partner. His rough hands took the crown and he carefully inspected it before he tossed it over his broad shoulder and gave her a shrug. "We don't want your crown, princess. We just wanted to stop by and say hello to your friend," He pointed a finger to Eugene before he turned back to her, "but now that I've gotten to see you up close, you're quite the pretty little thing, you are."

The princess squeezed her eyes shut and she screamed.

"Why you gotta be like that, princess?" Cyan leaned against her shoulder and she could feel his hot breath against her face. "We just wanna be your buddies."

Rapunzel quickly shook her head. She let out another shrill cry and she hit his hands; fatigue was beginning to overwhelm her and her strength was draining.

Emlen brushed a piece of chocolate locks from her face and he smiled—his breath was horrendous. "If you'll play nice, we'll be willing to take you on a little trip and you could take a break from that pretty little palace of yours."

She could hear Cyan snickering behind her back.

"So if you would gladly be willing to follow us, we'll—"

Emlen stopped at the sound of metal breastplates clattering together; he frowned and turned to Cyan. "Dammit!"

"_There_," A Brigadier cladded in red, purple and gold stood at the end of the alley and motioned towards the two men. Several royal guards hastened past him, swords in hand. "They have the princess—remove them by any means necessary!"

Rapunzel coughed and wheezed as Cyan clutched her slender waist tighter; her feet brushed the ground and she dropped to her knees upon the guards overtaking the men and forcing them away. She scampered to the wall and wiped her mouth repeatedly in an attempt to abolish any reminder of her captors' hands; the admiral bent down and he waved to the guards to fully apprehend Emlen and Cyan—shackles were bound to their wrists and ankles and they struggled as they were led off by four militants.

"…Are you alright, Your Highness?" The Brigadier extended a hand to her.

She said nothing; her eyes wide with hysteria and he breath shaking. He reached for her arm slowly and cautiously, as if being careful not to break her; she bolted to the opposite side of the dirt alley and fell at Eugene's side. "…Eugene?"

She gently shook him by his shoulder. "_Eugene_," Another shake. "Eugene_, _they're gone now."

He didn't move.

Rapunzel bent closer still to his face and she frowned; her dainty hands lightly cradled his head; she gasped-pulling one, sticky hand away from one side of his head.

_Blood. _

She turned to the guards behind her. "He's bleeding…"

The stared dumbly to the fallen man; their eyes darted from her to him and back.

The princess's eyes flashed to the marketplace with tears streaming from her eyes. "Don't just stand there—go!"

The Brigadier rushed off and his metallic footsteps faded; Rapunzel looked to Eugene and shook her head, her emerald eyes wide with disbelief.

_Not again._


	7. Twenty Below

**I'M BAAAAACK! **

*achem* Anyways, it's nice to be back here-as much as I love how beautiful Florida is, I'm glad to be in a place where there's not 334358450% humidity floating about in the air (I'm not gonna lie, I was _ticked_ when my hair turned into a puffball, right before I got in line to meet Rapunzel-just my luck, right? xD) But she was so sweet and adorable; I wish she had a Flynn to keep her company though-she looked sort of lonely to me. -_- Did the whole picture thing with her and my friend and whatnot; I'm smiling like a mega-dork from happiness. :D Thanks for all of the happy wishes on my trip, by the way! I'm already planning next year's trip to Disney and maybe I'll go to Disneyland California; they kept their Flynn, after all. :p I'll throw in a good word for all of you...maybe he'll give us all a little smolder. 3  
>ENOUGH ABOUT MY TRIP.<p>

This was a prompt given by **allison-nannyluverchannel; **I hope I lived up to your expectation! xD I think it turned out pretty well-all of you, tell me what you think. c: I'm still trying to get into the groove of things after getting back (I got home at 3:30 last night...) But hey, c'est la vie. I'm still working on a few of you guys' other prompts right now; give me some more time and they'll all eventually get up here. C: I love to get more-don't hesitate to offer an idea!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"…You've <em>never <em>seen snow?"

The tip of a glittering crown barely poked above the bedspread. "It's not like I've never _seen _it; I know what it looks like," The crown dipped back beneath the bed and a moment later, Rapunzel rose to her feet with a heavy purple cloak in hand. "I've never felt it, though—Gothel always made me keep the window shut in my tower so the heat wouldn't get out."

"So…you've never _felt _snow," The question was more of a statement; Eugene lifted an eyebrow and he placed the cloak over her shoulders. Looking out of her windows; it was a wonder that she hadn't—Corona was always early with the first snowfall and the latest for it all to melt. The entire landscape was covered in white; not a single thing had escaped winter's grip.

She gave him a sheepish nod.

Eugene spun her to face her bedroom windows; he kept his hands firm on her shoulders and his face next to hers. "Looks like you've been missing out."

Rapunzel giggled softly and she turned her head to his, laughing as their faces were a mere two inches from one another. "When I woke up and saw all of the snow, I wanted to tell you—but I know that you have to get your beauty sleep, so…" She grinned.

"You're funny, Princess," Eugene murmured sarcastically and he adjusted the excessive, furry cloak upon her shoulders.

She smirked. "You would have thought I was acting stupid, anyways; it's just snow."

"Well," He twisted his belt and led her out of the door. "I think that I could have made the exception for you—it _is _your first winter."

Rapunzel sighed softly. "…And I have to spend the first day of it addressing the council. How fun."

Eugene chuckled and he followed her at her side through the corridor. "I'm sure we could arrange something later. That is, if you're not too busy."

The princess looked to him, curiosity peaked. "I wouldn't think that I'd have much going on this afternoon," She eyed him suspiciously. "…What might you have in mind, Eugene Fitzherbert?"

"A trip," He paused as her stare continued to boar into him. He flashed a smile. "Not a long trip; just something to get your mind off of things."

Rapunzel smiled and she took his hand as he opened the Council Chamber door. "…I'd like that."

* * *

><p>"…Rapunzel," Eugene extended an arm to the hurrying figure before him and his fingers gripped towards something that was far out of reach. He quickened his pace and in doing so, was able to grip the white fur trimming the edge of her hood. "<em>Rapunzel.<em>"

The princess reached for his fingers and tugged against them, trying to pry them off as her gaze refused to meet his. "Let me go, Eugene."

He pulled her back and strode at her side. "You don't need to be angry about it; it's your first time speaking in front of the Council."

"I couldn't even get _two _words without stuttering like I'm stupid," Rapunzel gave a frustrated sigh and forcibly pulled the thick cloak further onto her shoulders. "I'm never going to be able to get in front of them without sounding like an idiot—let alone my own kingdom."

Eugene shook his head and took her smaller hand. "It's your first time standing in front of all of them—how did you think it was going to turn out?"

Rapunzel held up her hands before her. "Mother told me it would be easy to talk with them; I wasn't too worried about it until I couldn't even say 'hello' right."

"Well," He took the lead and they continued on through the passageway. "Your mom's been doing all of that a lot longer than you have. Just give it some time; you won't do so badly at the next meeting…"

She huffed and tried to yank her hand from his. "You thought I did _that_ badly?"

"No, that's not—" Eugene laughed uncomfortably and attempted to regain a hold of her.

"Not funny," Rapunzel rolled her sage green eyes and urged forward. "I don't need to hear that I did a crappy job from someone else—I'm already upset as it is…"

"Rapunzel, I didn't mean that."

She shook her head slowly; her voice rose. "I'll be in my room, if you need me. I don't want to embarrass myself any more than I already am."

Eugene frowned. "…You can't do that."

The princess turned back to face him with her hands planted firmly on her hips. "And _why not_?"

"Because I told you that I would take you somewhere after your thing with the Council," He stumbled on his words slightly as he shoved a thumb back to the thin crowd exiting the meeting chamber.

Rapunzel shrugged the cloak from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. "I don't think that right now is a good time to go out. I'm not feeling too well."

"Excuses, excuses," He crossed his arms and gave her a crooked smirk.

"I am _not _giving you excuses!" Her voice cracked slightly and Eugene could see the tears welling at the base of her eyes. His smile faded and he took her by the shoulder.

_No need to get bent out of shape over it…half of the people in that room still don't like me, anyways._

Whoops—there went his huge ego.

"…Rapunzel?"

"What…?" She gave in to his hold slightly and wiped her eyes with her opposite arm. "What do you want?"

Eugene's face brightened just a little and he picked her cloak up from the marble tile. "…To make you happy," He handed it to her. "We better get going soon if we want to get out of here without your parents knowing."

Rapunzel eyed him suspiciously before she tied a bow around her neck. "Where are you taking me?"

"Relax, I'm not going to make you get up in front of anybody and recite poetry," He paused as her eyes drilled into him with apparent annoyance. His smirk rose and he extended a hand for her to take, "but I can't have you sitting around and whining about it all day. Looks like you need that time off, after all."

She resisted on his urges forward and she frowned. "My maidservants aren't going to be happy if they find out I left with you again." It appeared that the gratefulness to escape from the palace earlier had all but faded.

"Right," Eugene nodded his head affirmatively; he grinned and pulled her towards him down the hall. "So let's go."

The princess rolled her eyes slightly, not amused at first sight as she was forced before him to mask herself to the double-doored entrance. "You lovegetting me in trouble, don't you?"

He gave her a small, nonchalant shrug and flashed his teeth. "…Just trying to make a good impression on your parents, Princess."

* * *

><p>"…You still haven't told me where we're going."<p>

Eugene shifted his satchel onto his shoulder and gripped her hand tighter to him as he directed her in his footsteps through the thick white snow. "I told you earlier; it's a surprise."

Rapunzel shoved a snowy branch away from her face and she ducked beneath several low-lying branches. Whatever he was doing leading her into the freezing-cold woods was anybody's guess. "…And you thought that taking me in weather like this was a good idea for a date?" Clearly, she was not too amused; her moods severely dampened by her inability to publicly speak.

"You don't even know where I'm taking you; cheer up a little."

She studied her surroundings and placed a finger to her mouth inquisitively. "Looks like we're in the woods to me. When it's snowing. I can't even walk right, Eugene."

"Knew I probably should have let you borrow one of my pairs of boots before we left—the snow's only going to get deeper…"

"Eugene," She growled, her voice taking an annoyed undertone. It didn't appear like winter was going to be her favorite season.

Eugene chuckled. "I wouldn't take you any place that I even _thought _was going to ruin those nice little shoes of yours," He pointed a finger to her feet, covered in silk shoes embroidered with what was sure to be some of the most expensive beads in Corona.

"What should we do if we see a bear?"

"Bears aren't even out during the winter, Rapunzel," His head turned back to her and he lifted an eyebrow. "The girl who's tackled ruffians and thugs, taken a frying pan to a thief at least three times, and broken herself out of a jail made just for her is scared of a _bear_?"

She smiled slightly. "…It's not _me _I'm worried about, you see. You've been slacking behind on your defense lessons lately, Eugene."

He put a hand on his hip and maneuvered around a thick tree and disappeared momentarily into a thicket of twigs and branches. "That's because I don't _need _those stupid lessons, Princess. I swear; that instructor's out to get me."

Rapunzel stepped over a fallen log and hurried back to his side with a smirk dancing upon her lips. "You _did _dump wood shavings into his lunch sack."

"_On accident_," Eugene urged. "I tripped and—"

"A likely story," She replied, sarcasm laden in her voice.

He rolled his eyes before stopping at a thicket of cattail plants. "Believe what you want, but either way, we're here."

She raised an eyebrow. "…Here?"

Eugene nodded and pushed the cattails aside, revealing a frozen-over pond with a thin layer of snow blanketing the landscape surrounding it. Rapunzel could do nothing but gasp softly; it looked like a picture from a story that she would have read when she was just a little girl.

"…It's so pretty here."

He smiled with satisfaction and carefully lowered his satchel onto a damp log buried beside the lake. "I thought you'd like it."

Rapunzel shifted the cloak upon her shoulders and shivered slightly. "How did you find this place?"

Eugene ran a hand through his hair and lifted his shoulders. "I used to come here a lot when I was younger—before I was a wanted man," He chuckled softly, more to himself than to her.

She gently prodded him at his ribs with a finger and laughed. "…You make it sound like you're so old, now."

He snorted softly. "Older than you, Princess." That one, rare difference was one that he enjoyed flaunting in front of her when debating one another's maturity levels.

She sighed. "I thought we were already done with this—I'm smarter than you, and that's that."

"You've got _book _smarts; I've got the street smarts."

She laughed. "Not too many, then. A horse outsmarted you."

He rolled his hazel eyes. "_Thanks._"

"And _how _many times did I save you?" Rapunzel smirked and held up her fingers. "Let's see…there was that first time at the 'Snuggly Duckling', where the ruffians almost did you through," She pulled one finger back.

"Fine-that's _one _time."

"Oh, and there's that time when we almost drowned in the little cave and my hair saved us both."

"Twice. Your luck," He smiled and shook his head.

She grinned. "Just because I didn't know what shoes felt like on my feet for a while doesn't mean that I didn't know how to get around. You learn a lot from books, you know."

Eugene waved a hand. "That shouldn't count; it's not fair. I didn't have many of those when I was younger."

The princess leaned towards him and pressed the crown of her head against his upper arm. "The _Tales of Flynnagyn Rider."_

His eyes rolled.

Rapunzel shed her thick cloak and carefully threw it over the same log. She rose onto her toes and peered past his shoulder from behind his back, her finger pointing to the heavy bag he had previously been carrying. "…What's in that?"

Eugene opened it and dug in it for several minutes before he faced her again with two pairs of shoes—or at least, that's what they appeared to be. Rapunzel had never before seen such strange contraptions, with what looked like thin blades attached to the soles of the shoes and sharp edges at the toes. They looked…dangerous. She stepped back a few feet and her head fell to one side.

"I see you got…new shoes."

He quickly shook his head. "They're not shoes; they're ice skates. Ever heard of them?"

Her head shook slowly.

He unlaced the leather laces and handed her the smaller white pair. "You use them to glide on the ice, sort of like walking on it—without the slipping. That is, unless you're not any good at it."

Rapunzel was almost cringing as she was already beginning to imagine herself falling flat on her face against the ice. Or at least crashing straight through. She looked to him with wide, sage eyes. "…Are you any good at it?"

Eugene bit his lip and was silent for several minutes, until he eventually spoke once his own ice skates were securely on his feet. "…I guess we'll find out."

Her mouth fell slightly agape. "You're telling me that you've _never _done this, either?"

He held up his palms to the sky and he laughed. "Who was I supposed to go with?" He motioned for her to begin lacing her shoes. She hesitantly did so.

"If I fall through and break my leg, I'm blaming you," She smiled, although her voice was stern and uncertain.

Eugene tossed his boots to the side and did the same with her nicer, heeled shoes. "You'll be alright; I'm sure that the water will manage to retain _some _of your body heat while I go to get some help for you."

"You wouldn't jump in after me?" She gasped softly, a playful smile dancing on her cold lips.

He laughed. "Of course not; are you crazy? Have you felt how cold that water is?"

"_Eugene_!"

Eugene beamed. "See? You're smiling now, right?"

"Yeah," She laughed uncomfortably. "With the idea of falling straight through the ice and freezing to death."

"Oh, come on," He urged, gently nudging her closer to the pond. "You know that I'd at least let you try to grab ahold of my hand."

"Yeah—if my dress doesn't drag me to the bottom, first—"

"—Those ice skates add some weight too, don't forget."

The princess sighed and she locked her arm with his. "You're a real help, Eugene Fitzherbert."

"I try," He grinned as he carefully stepped out onto the ice. After taking several steps further out, he motioned for her to come towards him. "You'll be fine—I've seen bigger people than us get out onto this. Now get closer; take small steps."

Rapunzel did as she was told and found herself frozen stiff with just fear as she began to unsteadily stumble and wobble on the thin, metal blades. "Eugene…"

He laughed—this was almost too funny to watch. "…You're fine; just keep going this way."

She held her eyes tightly shut as she blindly wandered towards Eugene; her fingers wiggled and she finally caught ahold of his forearm.

"See? You made it this far without falling through…" He shifted more weight onto his left foot and the ice cleaved slightly beneath it. He laughed when she gave a frightful squeal; he was beginning to have to remind himself that he took her here to have a nice time, not to torture her with a horrifyingly-hilarious experience on ice.

Rapunzel let her feet slip testily across the slick ice before she was comfortable enough to release him momentarily. She took a step forward, and then another with a bit more of a glide. She looked back to Eugene and smiled. "…This isn't so bad."

He cracked a grin. He watched as she began to walk across the ice with less and less of an effort; he knew that in time she was going to put his ice skating to shame—if she wasn't already doing it. Eugene tried to follow with just a hint more of grace than she, only to be brutally met by the slick ice below. His own laugh was met by that of Rapunzel's, who had seen him fall to his demise from the other side of the pond. She skated to his side and stumbled slightly as she stopped; the princess knelt at his side and beamed. "I don't know about you, but I'm having fun already."

Eugene pulled himself up and shakily rose to his feet. "Did you read a book on ice skating while you were stuck in that tower, Princess?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Nope. I guess I'm just naturally gifted," She snickered.

"That must be it," He took her by the waist as she began to glide away. "I think you might just have to show me how to do this right."

Rapunzel sighed softly and smiled back to him. "If I _have _to," She pulled his hand from her hips and spun to face him. "…Now stand up straight."

Eugene fumbled with his feet and fought against the ice before he eventually looked back to her with a straightened posture. "…Alright."

"Now try to move forward, but put your hands out in front of you—like right here," She took his wrists and pulled his arms out in front of him. "That'll help you to balance, like this." She demonstrated her own balancing technique before continuing. "…Now bend your knees just a little."

He stared at her for a moment before he lowered his arms and slowly lowered himself to bend his knees.

"No, no," Rapunzel quickly grabbed ahold of his arms and positioned them out before him again. "Keep those up."

Eugene sighed. "I look stupid," His eyes wandered, as if expecting people to be watching them. "I don't see how this is going to help me at all."

"I told you—it'll help you keep your balance," Rapunzel took his right hand and slowly moved him forward. "Now move your feet like you're walking."

He did as he was told, carefully putting his left foot to the side and doing the same with his right slightly more in front before he felt himself beginning to lose his grip on the ice. He stumbled behind her before he finally came crashing back down to the ground face first; Rapunzel only laughed and turned back to him.

"…It takes a little while."

Eugene closed his eyes and shook his head as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Not for you, it doesn't."

She shrugged slightly and gave him a smug grin. "Just remember, I'm gifted," She outstretched a hand and his slipped in. "Oh. And smarter, too."

"That's it—" He took on a satisfied smile of his own as he jerked on her wrist, sending her to the ice beside him. "No need to throw insults," As the younger woman turned to face him, he crookedly smiled.

Rapunzel scrambled upright and looked down upon him with wide eyes before she laughed sincerely. "So _that_'s what it's like to be on the ground—like you?"

Eugene reached for her ankle. "I'll do it again, if you keep it up."

She breezed past him back to the opposite end of the pond and grinned. "No, thanks. I like it up here, where I'm able to _skate_."

He rose back to his feet and clumsily chased after her. "_Drop it, _Princess."

Rapunzel shook her head gleefully and skated past him. "I don't know about you, but I'm enjoying myself quite a bit—watching you and all."

Eugene chased after her with what seemed to resemble ice skating, although he came close to dragging himself back down on numerous occasions in the ever-closing space between him and her. He came within inches of her; she only breezed by and glided to his backside. He laughed as he spun suddenly and she squealed, her legs moved but the rest of her remained in place as she moved so fast. Eugene's arm enveloped her from behind and she gave in as he drew her closer, grinning from ear to ear. "…You can skate, but I knew I could catch you just as easily."

She looked to him with large emerald eyes and smirked. "…You're just lucky I don't have my frying pan with me right now."

He spun her with one arm to face him directly. "You're right; I guess I am lucky," He gave her a crooked smile and leaned in closer towards her face. "Really, _really _lucky."

Rapunzel could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks and she returned his smile with a warmer one of her own. Her arms encircled his neck and she fully supported herself against him, much to the dismay of what was sure to be her better judgment. She stared at him for what felt like an eternity before she finally spoke, her voice quiet and much lighter than its earlier, distressed tone. "...I'm glad you dragged me here."

Eugene laughed softly. "See? I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

She giggled and buried her face into his chest.

His arms tightened and he closed his eyes; his chin rested atop the crown of her head. "…There was another time."

Rapunzel didn't lift her head. "…Hmm?"

"There was another time; you saved me more than twice."

"What would that be?"

His head moved and his eyes directly met with hers. "The tower."

She remained silent and unusually still in his arms; he waited for her eyes to at least move a bit before she opened her mouth to speak, her voice quiet. "…I didn't save you," She paused; her eyes were large and looked almost the exact way they had when she watched him hit the tower floor. "If I had saved you, you wouldn't have died. That's that," Her voice fell stagnant.

"I wouldn't let you help me—you would have been taken away. I couldn't let Gothel do that," He frowned slightly as she drew back from him slightly and her arms crossed tightly around her chest. "I wasn't going to let you give up your freedom so I could live the life I had before."

Rapunzel's eyes contained anguish and refused to meet his gaze. "…I couldn't let you die."

_But if you do this, then you will die._

He extended a hand, offering her to take it if she was willing. "But I'd do it more than once, if I could and if it meant that you were able to know what was past that tower."

It earned a faint, bittersweet smile from her; but not a touch from her just yet. She drifted slowly across the ice without movement and her head turned back to view him. "…You're so stupid—you could have had such an easy life if you had just let me heal you," The corners of her lips rose a considerable deal; he picked up on her slight teasing and he shrugged it off.

"Maybe you are the smarter one-but life's no fun living if it was always easy now, is it?"

She finally took his offer and her fingers locked between his. "I guess it's a good thing that everybody in the castle hates you, then. I never have a dull moment."

"Not _everyone_," He corrected with that same, lopsided grin. "Not…not everybody."

Rapunzel slid back to his side and she beamed. "If you can't come up with three people who don't dislike you by the time we get back home, you'll have to wear my crown for an entire day."

He lifted an eyebrow. "…And if I do?"

"I might have to take you up on your offer about those boots—with a nice dress and all. A whole day. Fair?" She held out her opposite hand.

Eugene smiled and took it. "…Deal."

He better start getting used to the idea of a crown being on his head.


	8. Reflection

So I had this little idea in my head for a few days; I'll start working on your guys' suggested prompts right very, very soon. c: This is a much shorter chapter-more of just a filler, but I still hope you like it. Keep leaving ideas and feedback for me, please; I love it (and all of you, of course. c:) And don't think that I forgot all of you that are just favoriting...I love you guys, too!

**Bon appetit! **

* * *

><p>Every morning she'd get ready in front of her mirror, brushing and combing her hair neatly into place and smoothing the crinkles of her dress.<p>

And sometimes, she'd find herself beaming as she stood there.

She wasn't sure what made it so, but she'd wake up and feel completely at ease with herself—with the people surrounding her—and life itself was as light as air. She floated on her own clouds; life was all she could have ever asked it to be and more.

Other days, however, she would stand before that silver-painted glass and do nothing but frown.

At what—she wasn't certain. Her eyes would bore into her own being and she would remain completely silent; sometimes a stray tear would escape her forest, somber eyes. She would reach up and tug the soft, choppy strands of chestnut hair at the base of her neck, missing and longing for the hair she once possessed. She missed its glow, its beauty.

She even, at times, missed the tower and its magnificence. Its height was one that only the most dedicated were willing to scale; it provided an additional sense of security and its beautiful masonry and artwork was what made it all a home. But now this palace was her home, one that she was going to have to grow used to and, in time, she was sure she would. Eventually.

Today felt as if it were one of those days. She had been dreading getting out of bed from the moment she awoke; it was going to be a long day—but an important one, at that. Today _was _her formal coronation as the Princess of Corona, after all.

The princess smiled sadly to herself as she recalled days of reading, baking, and cleaning with little cares about the world beyond the walls of her tower.

She finished adjusting the small, silver heart hanging from its chain upon her neck and lifted her head to meet the reflection. The incoming sunlight seeped through and illuminated the faint, lighter streaks of brown concealing themselves in her hair and brightening her bittersweet eyes.

She smiled.

Today _was _going to be better. She was going to make it—no, she was going to _let _it be. Today was the start of her new life; today was when her life _really _began. And she had so many people to go through this amazing journey with. Life was going to be _worth _living.

And another joined her in the reflection; with their fingers gently intertwining between hers and bringing her closer to their side. She laughed softly and closed her eyes as they placed a soft, meticulously-placed kiss against her forehead. And they stood together with their eyes gazing at one another through the glass, giving the occasional squeeze of the hand reassuringly. Even they were dressed much nicer than their usual garb—it wasn't just about her today.

"…Are you ready?"

She looked to him and nodded slowly; the smile spread further across her lips.

"Come on—everyone's waiting for us," He pulled on her hand and she gave one last look to their reflection before he led her away, her hand tucked securely within his.

He made every little thing better.


	9. Oversight

I'm BAAAAAACK. C:  
>I honestly don't have a single good excuse as to why I haven't updated this in forever-I really don't. : Sorry guys! D: I'm going to start back up right now; school's chilling out a bit so I have a handful more of time on my hands, so to speak to write and do stuff like this! *crosses fingers* I'll try my best to write and update as frequently as I can. I hope that those of you who have remained "faithful" to this story are still alive and out there; I want to hear from you again! And all of you new folks, of course. c:  
>I'm going to apologize in advance for this little one-shot chapter; I wrote about half of it right before I fell behind on updating this and ended up finding it about a week ago. I just sort of took what I was given and rolled with it, so if it's not exactly the best (which I know very well that it isn't xD), then give me adviceideas and prompts and we'll see if I can do just a little bit better!** Keep in mind, it's going to take me a little while to get to prompts**-but I will try to manage to get most of them done within a reasonable time frame. Don't bombard me, please!

Well, enough of me.

** Bon appetit! **

* * *

><p>"…We're not going to make it back before nightfall, Rapunzel."<p>

Soft footsteps padded quickly behind his; the shadow of a slender girl hopped to his side and in the dimming light, she twisted her mouth to one side in thought.

Eugene pointed to the orange star just managing to slip past the forest tree tops. A kingdom—her kingdom—sat within viewing distance but not within a few hours' reach; he certainly wasn't going to force them any further than they had already gone. "We can get some rest, and then make it by morning. You could use some sleep, anyways," Something that resembled a weary laugh spilled out of him; he looked back to the smaller form at his side.

Rapunzel gazed at the kingdom in a silent longing for several minutes before she finally faced him fully again; her eyes wide but sleep was apparent. "…I guess we could do that," She outstretched a hand and flashed a faint smile as his larger fingers intertwined with hers.

"I don't know of any places to stay all the way out here; looks like we'll be camping out again," He shrugged slightly at first; however he stopped midway and quickly looked to her. "…If that's alright with you, of course," His face flushed—something about a new-found princess sleeping on the dirt in the woods seemed just a bit too humble for his comfort, let alone when she was alone with a wanted (dead or alive, might he add) thief. Her parents certainly weren't going to be too pleased with that…

He was perplexed when he found her beaming before him. "I love sleeping out here—everything's so fresh and green and…" She paused and her mouth formed silent words; her emerald eyes eventually met his. "…You're here."

The corners of his mouth formed a faint smile and he found himself forcing his own eyes to tear away from hers to take a look around.

_Trees._

_Rocks…_

The faint sound of water trickling from a nearby creek, concealed behind the pines confirmed a water source.

_And dirt._

Eugene firmly planted his toe into the rich dirt and dug around, as if testing its softness and suitability for sleeping. After passing his examination, he looked back to the younger woman and outstretched a hand to a particularly barren area enveloped by greenery. "…Make yourself at home."

* * *

><p>Rapunzel's face turned a sickly green; whether it was the shadows and hues of the trees surrounding or the fact that the thing on his half of a broken branch hanging over a fire—Eugene couldn't tell.<p>

He watched as her mouth contorted and twisted into a knot that seemed like it couldn't have been undone before she finally slumped over her knees and rested her chin into her palms. He lifted an eyebrow and pulled the stick back towards him a ways. "…Everything alright over there, Princess?"

Rapunzel's green eyes widened slightly, as if the question he had just asked had an answer that he should have already known—which was a firm _no_. She frowned and pointed an arrow-straight finger towards the cooking meat. "How can you _eat _that?"

Eugene stared at the piece of meat for what felt like an hour, until the sound of fire cracking shook him back. He smirked slightly in a tormenting manner. "What—don't like rabbit?" He extended the branch towards her, earning a stern glare.

"I wouldn't let you use my frying pan to cook something that was so cute, like that poor bunny—_ever_," She put an emphasis on the last word and pushed her cooking utensil-turned weapon aside. "How could you?"

His eyes darted from side to side for a moment. He gingerly pulled his rabbit meat from the branch and took a bite; she cringed at the very sound of hot sizzling meat and he couldn't help but laugh. "Rapunzel, do you see _anything _else to eat around here? I'd really like to see you try to eat a pinecone, sprinkled with some grass. Try it; I'm sure it'll taste just like something—" He stopped, his mouth still slightly agape.

She turned and took a swift glance behind her, as if expecting a monstrous creature to trudge forward from the shadows. Rapunzel slowly twisted back; her emerald eyes twitched slightly and she straightened. "…What…?"

"Something…fit for royalty," Eugene's voice was softer and he almost held the appearance of a boy caught stealing cookies from the local baker—something that Rapunzel was sure that he had done but had never felt the least bit guilty about. Her eyes followed his bland meal as he slowly took a bite and nibbled around the bone.

Rapunzel bit her lip and thought for a moment; she could continue with the false pride within herself and determination not to eat the living—or once living—parts of nature, or she could simply forfeit and give into the temptation in which the rabbit meat was handing towards her. The smell was already wafting in her direction and it was becoming harder to resist by the minute.

-Looked like she was probably going to be the first member of the Royal Family to try camping-style rabbit.

She extended a hand and her fingers motioned in a manner for Eugene to hand her his share of the food. He did so without the slightest bit of hesitation, perhaps in expectation of her spitting it out immediately, and leaned forward on the rotting log upon which he had seated himself earlier. A sly grin spread across his face and dared her to put the meat in her mouth.

Rapunzel cringed once more at the slightly pink flesh left hanging from the bone. This didn't look _nearly _as appetizing as the pictures in some of the books she had read made it seem…how could anyone bring themselves to eat _any _sort of meat? She reluctantly brought it closer and closer to her face until she could feel its warmth steaming against her lips; she squeezed her eyes shut and cautiously opened her mouth.

Three…two…one…

Her teeth sunk into it and stopped once it had hit hard bone; she pulled it away and tore off a piece of meat before she slowly chewed it.

"…How is it?" Eugene was still waiting for an answer; this must have been all too fun for him to watch. Like a little thief in a candy shop.

Rapunzel let it sit on her palate for another minute before she gained the courage to completely swallow it.

_Not bad._

She looked to him and finally gave him a small shrug with her dainty shoulders bobbing slightly. "…I guess we could go camping again sometime."

* * *

><p>Silence.<p>

He had almost forgotten what that even sounded like.

Eugene let the air in his lungs escape through his nose as he rested his hands behind his head and lay on his back, facing the navy-painted sky. Rapunzel insisted that she bring along several of her books with her back to Corona before she left the tower for good; he obliged as he assumed that he could at least let her have an ounce of something to remember the past eighteen years of her life with. For the past hour and a half, the sound of paper pages turning and occasionally ripping slightly could be heard every few minutes; it was a calming effect, and, combined with the sound of a dying, crackling fire, made him want to fall asleep exactly where he was.

Now that he thought of it…he hadn't heard a single page turn in the last twenty minutes. He opened his eyes and twisted his head to the left, where a not-too-well tent had been set up under the protection of several tall trees.

She must have already gone to bed. Indeed, all of her books had been picked up and neatly stacked at the side of the tent; there was only so much reading one could take in a single night and she must have already reached her limit. Not to mention, she had read most of those at least ten times before. Eugene closed his eyes once more and focused on the sound of a nearby cricket; never before had he truly appreciated how simplistic such a sound was.

What were her parents going to think? He was the very person whose face—despite nose shape and scale—was hanging on almost every wall in the market and along every single bridge leading to the city.

What if he was caught before they could even reach the palace—what if Rapunzel was taken with him in doubt that she was the King and Queen's lost daughter? If she, a perfectly innocent girl, who, in a way was caught up into all of this by _his _doing, was taken to the gallows to be hanged at his side? He would rather himself die the most painful death imagined than to watch the executioner pull the lever that dropped the floor beneath her bare feet. Suddenly, the thought of setting foot in Corona once more was mortifying and sent a chill down his spine.

…But if that was going to happen, he was going to make certain that he _at least _had this night—one last night of freedom. Eugene blocked the horrid images of Rapunzel, small and no larger than the smallest guard in the entire kingdom, struggling against an entire brigade from his mind and he took in another breath filled with the scent of nature.

And flowers.

The pleasant fragrance drifted closer and closer until he insisted that it was hanging directly above him. But he didn't bother to open his eyes to look; he knew the smell well and when the weight of something delicate but heavy enough silently knelt and slipped under the protection of one of his arms, he smiled.

"…I thought you went to bed, Princess."

"I couldn't sleep," The mass adjusted itself and he felt her delicate fingers gently lay against his chest. "It was too quiet." Her voice was, indeed, laden with fatigue and he felt a strong pang of sorrow for her.

"Nightmare?"

Rapunzel shook her head just enough for him to feel against the crook of neck. "No…I just sort of laid there. I tried reading some more, but I've already read every book in that pile at least fifty times. Doesn't do much when you're trying to sleep…" Her voice trailed off, as if she had finally drifted off to sleep.

Eugene opened his eyes and looked at the stars blinking faintly off in the expanse above. "…You weren't thinking about what happened this morning, were you…?"

Rapunzel grew uncomfortably stiff.

"…You were."

"It's hard _not _to."

"Look," Eugene opened the hand behind his hand, as if making a point to show her something. "What's done is done. There's no use looking back at it now; everything's better now and that's all that matters."

"I know…" Rapunzel's small voice was uncertain.

Eugene said nothing. There probably wasn't anything that he could say to her that would ease her mind even a little. He inhaled and tried to count the stars; if only he was better at keeping track of where he left off.

"Can I ask you something?" Her fingers curled slightly, clenching the white shirt beneath his vest.

He turned to face her.

Rapunzel's glowing eyes wandered in the dark, as if the words were laying somewhere around them. But when she realized that they weren't, she met his gaze. "…What does it feel like? Dying, I mean."

Eugene blinked; the question was strange but in a sense not the least bit perplexing. Reflecting on the events earlier in the day, he could nearly feel the chilling sensation of a cold dagger being driven into his side. He grunted. "…It hurts."

She lifted her head slightly from his shoulder. "That's all?"

"Well," His lower lip caught behind his upper teeth and his eyes narrowed as he studied a falling star, flying from one end of the sky to the other. And it was gone in a fraction of a second. "I guess it's not all so bad…"

"How so?" Rapunzel's voice rose and she rolled over to look down upon him.

Eugene's head tilted to one side and then back. "It hurts like no other, there's no doubt about that—but only for a little while. Then you hit this point, near the end, where you don't feel anything. Like all of the pain sort of just goes away," He stopped to watch her face. "It's not so horrible, then. I don't know if it's because you _know _that you're going to die then, or…" He shrugged. "It feels sort of nice, not having to fight to survive. You can let yourself go."

"And it feels…good?"

"Eu…ph…What's the word? Euphoric. You know how when you're dreaming, everything looks foggy—like you're stuck in a haze? Everything starts to look like that; you even feel like you're in a dream. Time starts to go by slower and slower, the closer you get towards the end…"

Rapunzel made no noise other than a soft confirmation.

"It's not as frightening as people make it sound, I don't think."

Another several minutes of silence. Rapunzel returned to her former position, resting securely beneath his arm and tucked against his chest. "…Could you see me?"

Eugene blinked. "…See you?"

"I read this book once—it said that when somebody died, their soul could go to two different places. If you were good and did as you were told, you went to Heaven. If you were evil and vain, you went to Hell. And if you went to Heaven, then you could look down at the world-like you were looking at a painting or something. Your spirit could visit the earth and see what people were doing."

"…I felt like I was flying."

"What?"

"I don't know—I don't really know how to describe it," Eugene fumbled slightly on his words, earning a mental string of curses. "I felt like I was outside of my body. I could see everything, but I was getting pulled farther and farther up, towards the sky. It sounds so weird, but…I don't know. Maybe that's what you mean."

The young woman shrugged slightly, and her voice grew more fatigued. "I don't know. I just wanted to know if you could see me."

"I could see you just fine. I could hear you singing, too—the song that made your hair glow."

Rapunzel rose back onto her elbows to look to him. Her eyes were wider in the dark than before; she looked surprised.

He nodded to confirm what she must have been thinking. "I didn't even think it was strange, looking at my body and not wondering what had happened to me. It was all sort of like a dream; nothing seems strange until after you wake up."

Rapunzel's mouth closed and a smile soon began to play out upon her lips, as if she had thrown all cares away. "I'm glad you woke up."

Eugene raised a hand to the back of her neck and a devilish grin of his own formed. "I'm glad I woke up, too," He chuckled and pulled her down for a wicked kiss; he heard her laugh beneath his lips and he replied with nothing more and nothing less of the same. His fingers tangled in her choppy hair, and it was at that moment that he realized that maybe he would appreciate her new haircut just a little bit more.

And if he was going to be sent to die tomorrow, he was going to make certain that he _at least _had this night.


	10. Contrast

Ah herrow, readers! C: I'm on break for school right now, so I figured that I may as well get back into writing-this little idea just popped in my head so I just sorta rolled with it! The amount of reviews for the last chapter were disappointingly low, but maybe that was just because I hadn't updated in 2,565,736 years. d: Hopefully I get more on this one-I hope you guys enjoy! As always, I really appreciate it when you guys leave reviews and ideas for future chapters! C:

**Bon appetit!**

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><p>Two hazel eyes flickered in the black, illuminated only by white rays of moon that found their way past purple curtains.<p>

_Again._

Eugene found his arms beneath the white, satin sheets and pulled himself upright; his limbs were numb and he sat there for several minutes, tensing and relaxing his biceps to revive his dead arms. He looked to the heap of a form lying beneath the same blankets, just inches away. Barely recognizable beneath all of the fluff, he could just make out the slow, steady rising and falling of a woman's small chest as she slept on. Careful as to not disturb her slumber, Eugene maneuvered himself out of bed and quietly dropped from the bed to the floor below.

The floorboards woefully creaked from under his toes, earning a wince with each new step he made. He slipped past the opposite side of the bed and over to a bassinet nestled securely within a corner of the room. Only the tips of white light rays touched it; it remained concealed within the darkness as if it were a secret, only shared with the only other person in the room.

The soft scent of baby powder wafted past his nostrils, and he inhaled deeply; it had only been a few days yet the smell of it had become so normal and he had never given it a single thought since it all began. Eugene closed his eyes—it was threatening to lull him back to sleep.

But the sound of a soft, purr-like sound interrupted his reverie. He quickly shook his head and brought himself back to what was real.

Stopping, Eugene craned his head until he hovered over the baroque basket. Adorned with majestic violet and gold satin curtains, it stood on gilded legs and it made him nervous to just be around it in fear that he may bump it too hard and damage it. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, there was no doubt; however, it looked as if it were better suited for a royal gallery.

Something small rustled behind the opaque curtains. Then came a soft gurgle—then another. Eugene carefully pushed purple upon gold and then more purple layers away until he was looking at another, smaller lump buried beneath more royal colors.

"Shh…"

He dug until he found the source of the mysterious noise; a small baby, no older than two or three days with lively, pink cheeks that almost glowed as he lifted it from its cradle. Swaddled in purple, Corona's emblem was embroidered onto the front of the luxurious cloth and Eugene moved it aside to better view the infant's face. Every time he saw that face, he was utterly amazed and he couldn't help but lose his breath.

She was beautiful.

From the moment he had his laid eyes upon her, Eugene was hopelessly in love. He had never imagined the feeling; not in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that seeing his own daughter—something he had helped to make—would bring about such emotions. So many at once—overwhelming joy, unbelievable fear, pure delight, excitement, but the greatest of all of them being love. She was so perfect, so small compared to even his hands that she looked too fragile to even lay a finger on. But when he had picked her up for the very first time, she fit so wonderfully in his two hands and he knew that she was _his. _So much like him, so much like her mother, she was the perfect combination.

And despite the similarities she held of her two parents, this baby was unique in her own right—from her quiet, calm demeanor, to her milky and flawless skin to the unusually dark, thick hair that covered her head. But perhaps the most noticeable difference that she possessed was her rich burgundy, almond-shaped eyes that belonged to neither her mother nor him. They looked so familiar, but the image that he tried to paint in his own mind of the one person who may have given the child such a beautiful and wondrous trait was blurred and faded.

The baby gurgled. It wouldn't be much longer before she would grow fussier; Eugene held her to his shoulder and gently rocked her. "Shh…Lila. Don't wake up your mom—you know how tired she is already." He silently prayed that the baby would remain quiet so to not wake Rapunzel; goodness knew that was the last thing she needed.

"No, Lila," Eugene held her closer and continued to gently rub her small back. "Please don't cry—don't cry."

…_Too late._

Lila choked quietly, coughing before she began with a soft cry, followed by increasingly-louder wails. Eugene rocked her frantically; he unfortunately had not been given much time to learn how to tend to an upset infant and therefore, had not the slightest clue as to what to do. He frowned. "Please don't do this…pretty, pretty _please _don't do this, not right now…"

Nothing smelled horrendous. Couldn't be her diaper…

Eugene twisted his neck to the bed, where the lump he had once been lying beside was now stirring slightly. He bit his lip and shook his head, closing his eyes as he could already picture her lips pursed into a thin line as she tried to mask her extreme weariness as she pulled herself from the bed and trudged over to tend to _both _ of them.

"Shh, shh…No, Lila. We promised we wouldn't wake up mommy, right?"

"…Eugene…?" A soft sniffle.

He turned in horror. Rapunzel was already out of bed, putting on her velvet slippers and half-sleepily shuffling her way towards him. Eugene lowered his head in defeat; he was already prepared to hand Lila off to her mother in a moment's notice.

Rapunzel stopped before him, remaining silent at first before she rubbed her eyes and gave a sleepy smile. "…What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Eugene replied almost a little too quickly as he held his arms outstretched with the infant in hand. "I don't know…I don't—I'm so sorry."

The princess blinked several times before her mental capacities could register anything. She slowly took Lila from him and lifted her to her face, the smile on her face growing in size as she studied her baby's face. "You haven't done anything wrong, Eugene. She's just lonely," She easily spoke over the wailing.

Eugene looked to her with a blank stare.

"Babies get lonely too, Eugene. She must have missed us."

"She's missing _you_, Princess."

Rapunzel laughed softly and slowly rocked the baby, closing her eyes in doing so as if she were going to fall back to sleep—probably because she felt as if she was about to. "I'm sure she knows who you are."

Business with other royals had become customary in Eugene's life; the fact that he had a baby coming for nine months previously did nothing to cease the countless members of the court and other nation's desires to help to solve domestic issues and those involving alliances. Not that he had the slightest clue as to what he was doing, anyways—turned out, maybe an ex-thief –turned—prince was not fit to completely rule…not quite yet.

He exhaled. "I haven't had the chance to be around as much as I'd like—you know that, Rapunzel. If I could just stay here with you and Lila, you know that—"

"I know you would," She stopped him with a touch of her finger to his lips, smiling sweetly but her mind was clearly still quite foggy. "I know you'd stay…" She laid her cheek gently upon Lila's, the corners of her lips rising as the baby's cries quelled. Within just a few more minutes, Lila's tears had ceased and she had fallen quiet once more. Rapunzel placed a gentle kiss against her head with a whisper on her lips. "Mommy's here."

Eugene leaned against the bed's sturdy oak headboard and dropped his head. Had it not been for the white moon lighting the room as well as the irises of his eyes, he could have easily been mistaken as already asleep. "I don't know how you do it."

Rapunzel laughed. "I don't know, either," She gently laid Lila back into her bassinet and adjusted the blankets until the infant was once again hidden. "I just…do it. I felt like I've known her my entire life."

He met her halfway across the floor and extended his arm, where the smaller woman nestled herself securely. Together, they peered into the cradle and he smiled faintly. "…Probably because she's almost just like you."

She looked up to him, her green eyes glowing and large with wonder. "Do you really think so?"

He nodded and reassured her with small strokes against her shoulder.

Rapunzel studied the baby—_their _baby—and pressed her face against Eugene's chest, smiling. "She so perfect," She said it with a soft whisper.

"Her eyes…"

The princess looked to Eugene. "What about them?"

He choked slightly as he whispered, despite his best attempts to mask it. The image was suddenly so clear, as if he had just seen it.

"She has my mother's eyes."


End file.
